The US unemployment rate dipped to 6.2% in July from 6.4% in June, but businesses unexpectedly axed 44,000 jobs in the month, the US government said this afternoon.
The job losses crushed expectations of a modest increase in employment, and delivered a sobering reminder of the pain in the jobs market despite a flurry of other figures pointing to an economic rebound.
Job losses so far this year amounted to 486,000, the Labor Department said. 'In summary, the labor market remained weak in July,' said Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Kathleen Utgoff.
The unemployment rate managed to creep lower in the month because the total labour force contracted by 556,000 people in July, partly because some people gave up the hunt for jobs.
Factory workers took the brunt of the blow, with manufacturing jobs slumping by 77,000 as many car factories shut down for the summer to re-equip assembly lines for new car models. The number of construction jobs grew by 6,000, boosted by a strong housing market.
Retail jobs declined by 44,000, but in the professional and business services areas, jobs surged by 77,000. Air transportation shed another 9,000 jobs, bringing losses since March 2000 to 415,000.
