(RTTNews) - Reflecting continued weakness in the labor market, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that employment fell by much more than expected in the month of June, pushing the unemployment rate up to a new twenty-five year high.

The report showed that non-farm payroll employment fell by 467,000 jobs in June following a revised decrease of 322,000 jobs in May. Economists had been expected a decrease of about 365,000 jobs compared to the loss of 345,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

With the bigger than expected decrease in employment, the unemployment rate edged up to 9.5 percent in June from 9.4 percent in May. The increase lifted the unemployment rate to its highest level since August of 1983, although it was below economist estimates of 9.6 percent.

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Posted in Categories: Economy, Releases.

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