US employers cut a deeper-than-expected 263,000 jobs last month, lifting the unemployment rate to 9.8 percent, according to a government report yesterday that fueled fears the weak labor market could hurt economic recovery.
The US Labor Department said the unemployment rate was the highest since June 1983 and payrolls had now dropped for 21 consecutive months.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected non-farm payrolls to drop 180,000 last month and the unemployment rate to rise to 9.8 percent from 9.7 percent the prior month. The poll was conducted before reports showed some deterioration in employment measures.
The government revised job losses for July and August to show 13,000 more jobs lost than previously reported. Preliminary annual benchmark revisions, released together with last month’s employment report, showed that total non-farm payroll employment for March would have to be revised down by about 824,000.
Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed people in the US has risen by 7.6 million to 15.1 million, the department said. While the decline in payrolls has moderated from early this year, companies are still not hiring on a wide scale, likely waiting for a signal that the economic recovery is sustainable.
Manufacturing employment fell by 51,000 last month, while construction industries payrolls also dropped. The service-providing sector cut 147,000 workers last month, while goods-producing industries shed 116,000 positions.
Education and health services added a mere 3,000 jobs, while government employment fell by 53,000.
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