Jobless Rate Rises in June

The U.S. unemployment rate rose 0.1% to 4.5% in June as the economy lost 114,000 jobs during the month, the Labor Department said on Friday.

For the 11th straight month, manufacturing payrolls fell, this time by 113,000. Factories have lost a total of 785,000 jobs over the last 12 months, with three-fourths of those losses occurring since January.

The report is a warning sign for trucking that despite some encouraging economic news over the past two weeks, a full recovery may not be near.

Since employment levels drive so much economic activity, a slide in the job market can further weaken consumer confidence and spending patterns. It also shows that many businesses are still retrenching, which can further cut into freight shipments.

Mark Vitner, an economist at First Union Corp. told Bloomberg that there will probably be more job losses before a recovery begins.

The report showed that electronic equipment makers cut 31,000 jobs in June, while industrial machinery makers cut 22,000 positions.

In addition, the service sector, where most Americans work, managed an increase of only 5,000 jobs, the weakest showing since an outright loss of 15,000 jobs in August 2000.

Labor also said that average hours worked remained steady in June at 34.3 hours per week and inflation pressures appeared to be stable as workers' wages grew 0.3% to $14.29 in June from $14.25 in May.

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