Friday, 5 April 2013

US unemployment drops by just 88,000 in March

A jobs fair in Los Angeles for US military veterans


United State unemployment fell by just 88,000 in March, the lowest decline for nine months, official data has shown.

The number was much weaker than the fall of approximately 200,000 predicted by economists, and will inevitably raise new concerns about the strength of the US economic recovery.

At the same time, the US jobless rate declined to 7.6% from 7.7% in February.

The US economy needs to add about 90,000 jobs each month just to keep up with population growth.

March's fall in unemployment was half the level of the past six months, when there was an average monthly decline of 196,000.

A drop in the number of people employed in retail was a major factor in the smaller-than-expected fall in joblessness.

Another contributing factor to the weak level of job creation last month could have been the Federal spending cuts that came into effect on 1 March, and the impact this has had on confidence among companies.

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