The unemployment rate climbed to a four-year high of 5.7 percent in July, as employers cut 51,000 jobs amid a slumping economy, a Labor Department report showed Friday. The U.S. lost non-farm jobs for the seventh straight month in July, hitting teenagers looking for summer jobs the hardest. The total number of jobs lost for the year stands at 463,000.
The report showed that employers remain cautious as a lack of credit stunts their expansion plans. Fallout from the housing slump and high energy prices are also weighing on employers.
The increase in the unemployment rate came as many young people streamed into the labor market looking for summer jobs. This year, however, fewer of them were able to find work, the government said. The unemployment rate for teenagers jumped to 20.3 percent, the highest since late 1992.
-excerpt from NPR
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