U.S. Payrolls drop by 62,000 in June, Unemployment Rate Still at 5.5%

As reported on Style Sight.com July 3rd, 2008

Sixty-two thousand jobs were lost in June, marking the sixth consecutive month of layoffs in the U.S., as soaring fuel prices absorbed economic stimulation and prompted companies to reduce costs, reported Bloomberg. The unemployment rate stayed at 5.5% after a record jump in May, but continued job losses suggest that consumer spending will continue to slow, signaling that more bad times are ahead for our nation’s retailers. Retail payrolls fell by 7,500, following a 22,600 decline in May.

For the first half of 2008, 438,000 jobs were lost in total, reversing the 91,000 jobs generated by the economy each month on average in 2007.
Federal Reserve policy makers may delay their first interest-rate increase since 2006, according to Bloomberg.
“As long as the consumer is facing these headwinds, it’s going to be very tough for a major turnaround in employment growth,” Kathleen Stephansen, head of global economics at Credit Suisse Holdings USA Inc. in New York, said before the Labor Department issued its report in Washington D.C. “There is very little room for the Fed to do anything.”

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