How did the US Unemployment rate do in July?
WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) — The pace of job losses in the United States narrowed in July to 247,000 and the jobless rate fell unexpectedly to 9.4 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday. The July reading for job losses was much better than the 320,000 layoffs expected by economists, while the unemployment rate had been forecast to rise to 9.6 percent. Since the recession began in December 2007, the U.S economy has lost a net total of 6.7 million jobs. According to the Labor Department, the manufacturing sector shed 52,000 jobs last month while construction industries axed 76,000 jobs. Retail trade employment fell by 44,000 over the month. Professional and business services got rid of 38,000 jobs, while employment in the federal government increased 7,000 over the month. The average work week in July rose to 33.1 hours, after having fallen to 33 hours in June, the lowest on records dating to 1964. The White House immediately hailed the unexpected data. “This morning we received
