Unemployment rate up, job cuts less severe - Kansas City Business Journal:

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According to the , nonfarm payroll employment fellby 345,000 in May, abougt half the average monthly decline for the prior six months. The unemployment rate continueddto rise, moving from 8.9 percent in April to 9.4 percenf in May. Arizona’s jobless rate checked in at 7.7 percenft in April, down slightly from 7.8 percenrt in March. May numbers for the stat will be released in roughly two The number of unemployed people inthe U.S. increased by 787,000o in May, to 14.5 million. Since the start of the recessionn inDecember 2007, the numbefr of unemployed has risebn by 7 million, according to the Departmen of Labor.
Nationally, steep job losses continuexd in manufacturing, while decline s moderated in construction and severalservice industries. Manufacturingh was the hardest-hit sector in May, where employment fell by Employment in construction decreasedby 59,000 for the month, compared with an average monthlyu job loss of 117,000 in the industrg for the previous six months. Job lossez in professional and business services moderatedin May, with that sector shedding 51,000 jobs. That comparess with an average lossof 136,000 jobs a montjh in the prior six months.
The brightesty spot in the employment picture was in health Employment rose in that industryby 24,000 in May, about in line with its average monthly job growtbh thus far in 2009.