US unemployment hits four-year high

Friday 1st August 2008, 3:09PM BST.

US unemployment hits four-year high The US unemployment rate has risen to a four-year high in July and now stands at 5.7 per cent as the economy continues to weaken.

Employers cut a further 51,000 jobs over the month, with construction, manufacturing, and several service-providing industries particularly hard hit.

The losses were not as high as had been feared, with some analysts expecting 75,000 jobs to go.

The number of unemployed in the country now stands at 8.8 million, a rise from last month.

Teenagers looking for a job this summer will find it hard going, as the jobless rate for this group increased to 20.3 per cent in July.

In addition, there were 461,000 ‘discouraged workers’ in July, 94,000 more than a year earlier. Discouraged workers were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them, the government said.

Employment in construction was down by 22,000 in July. Construction has shed 557,000 jobs since its September 2006 employment peak, with nearly three quarters of the decline occurring since October 2007.

The labor department also released revised figures for June and May. According to the revisions, 47,000 jobs were cut in May instead of the 62,000 previously stated, and that 51,000 were cut in June rather than 62,000.

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