US jobless rate at 25-year high

[Naveed Yaseen]

WASHINGTON: US employers cut a smaller-than-expected 539,000 jobs in April, the smallest amount since October, according to government data on Friday that hinted at some improvement in the labor market and the recession-hit economy.

However, the Labour Department said the unemployment rate soared to 8.9 per cent, the highest since September 1983. March’s payrolls figure was revised to show a decline of 699,000, compared with a previously reported drop of 663,000.

Job losses in February were bumped up to 681,000 from the previously estimated 651,000.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast non-farm payrolls dropping 590,000 in April. The unemployment rate had been forecast to rise to 8.9 per cent from 8.5 per cent in March.

The report showed job losses across almost all sectors, although at a less steep pace than in the previous months. The government and education and health services sectors added jobs. The manufacturing sector lost 149,000 jobs in April, after shedding 167,000 the prior month.

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