Unemployment fell 0.1% to 9.4% in July, but businesses continued to cut positions, shedding 247,000 non-farm jobs, the Department of Labor reported today.
The economy has lost 7.4 million jobs since the current recession started in December 2007.
The number of persons unemployed in June was 14.5 million, compared to 14.7 million in June and 14.5 million in May.
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The department said the unemployment rate in June would have been even higher if it had included the 2.3 million people it describes as "marginally attached" to the labor force, an increase from May's figure of 2.2 million people and 709,000 more than in July 2008. These are individuals who wanted to work and were available and had searched for a job within the last year, but not within the past four weeks.
The number of persons unemployed for 27 weeks or more was 5 million, up from 4.4 million in June.
Wages remained sluggish; average hourly earnings grew 0.2%. Over the last 12 months, average hourly earnings increased 2.5% and average weekly earnings rose 1%.
As in June, employment increased in education and health care but it also increased in professional and business services, leisure/hospitality and government.
There were job cuts in manufacturing, construction and retail.
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