U.S. unemployment hits 9.5 percent

WASHINGTON, July 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Labor Department said unemployment climbed to 9.5 percent in June, an increase that was not as severe as economists predicted.

The country lost 467,000 non-farm jobs in the month, the department said Thursday. Economists had predicted joblessness would edge higher to 9.6 percent from its previous mark of 9.4 percent.

The healthcare sector provided the only positive news with 21,000 jobs added in the month, in line with its average monthly gain for 2009. Last year, healthcare averaged 30,000 additional jobs a month.

Wages were unchanged from May, averaging $18.53 an hour. But the average hours worked per week dropped by 0.1 percent to 33 hours per week, the lowest number since the figure was first tracked in 1964.

Construction lost 79,000 jobs, manufacturing lost 136,000. Retail jobs shrank by 21,000 and the government shed 49,000 jobs, many of them temporary hires related to preparations for the 2010 census, the report said.

Within the manufacturing sector, 27,000 jobs were lost in the automobile sector, an industry plagued by falling sales and bankruptcies among automakers and parts suppliers. Auto dealers shed 9,000 jobs, the result of a prolonged sales slump and bankruptcy plans at General Motors Corp. and Chrysler, which call for severing ties with thousands of dealerships.