Posted on Sat, Aug. 02, 2003
Jobs decline for sixth straight month
Many unemployed giving up search
BY GREGG FIELDS
gfields@herald.com
The nation's hobbling labor market stumbled again in July, as the country lost a total of 44,000 jobs -- the sixth straight monthly decline -- and nearly a half-million frustrated job seekers quit looking.
Technically, the unemployment rate -- defined as the number of jobless people searching for work -- fell to 6.2 percent from 6.4 percent.
But that decline was largely a statistical aberration, produced by the 470,000 people who stopped hunting for work.
It was the decline in payrolls that most concerned analysts. With the Labor Department's June job losses jumping to 70,000, up from an original estimate of 30,000, the country has lost 486,000 jobs this year. Private industries have shed 3.2 million jobs since the recession of 2001. (snip/...)
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