Job losses slow as rate drops

[rickaren]

Job losses slow as rate drops

Posted Friday, Aug 7, 2009, 11:16 am in Employee News

U.S. job losses tapered off last month while the unemployment rate surprisingly fell, providing further evidence that the U.S. recession is nearing an end, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Payroll cuts slowed in a variety of industries including manufacturing and many services while the automobile sector posted a rare increase, as anticipated seasonal layoffs failed to materialize last month, the Journal said. Nonfarm payrolls declined 247,000 in July, the Labor Department said Friday, the smallest drop since last August and below the 275,000 decline economists in a Dow Jones Newswires survey had expected.

Though still a terrible loss by historical standards, the data suggest a turning point is at hand after job cuts earlier in the year that totaled as much as 700,000, the paper said. The economy has lost 6.7 million jobs since the recession started in December 2007, the Journal reported.

The unemployment rate, calculated using a survey of households as opposed to companies, slid 0.1 percentage point to 9.4 percent, the paper said. The unemployment rate was under 6 percnet less than one year ago. When marginally attached and involuntary part-time workers are included, the rate of unemployed or underemployed workers was 16.3 percent last month, down slightly from June. (Wall Street Journal)