Jobless Rate Hits 9.2%

The New York Times reports:

The United States economy added a meager 18, 000 jobs in June, up from a gain of a revised 25, 000 jobs in May, the Department of Labor said on Friday. The unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent from 9.1 percent in May, the department said.

The increase in nonfarm payrolls came mostly from private companies, which added 57,000 jobs in June, from the revised 73,000 they brought on in May, the monthly report said. In general, government agencies have been shedding jobs as they grapple with budget pressures.

The report said that 14.1 million people were out of work in June, among them 6.3 million who have been jobless for six months or longer. In May, the total number of unemployed people was reported as 13.9 million, with the long-term unemployed at 6.2 million.

The numbers showed the continuing challenges of adding jobs to the economy even at a rate that keeps pace with population growth, two years after the official end of the longest economic downturn since the Great Depression.