Employers in the United States cut their payrolls by 159,000 in September, the most since March 2003, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The nation's unemployment rate held steady at 6.1 percent last month as hundreds of thousand of people streamed out of the work force for any number of reasons.
Analysts had been expecting the unemployment rate to be unchanged. But the reduction in payrolls was much larger than their expectations of 100,000 cuts.
It was the ninth consecutive month that the U.S. economy has lost jobs, reflecting a severe housing slump and a persistent credit crisis.
Job loss in August has been revised to 73,000, slightly less than the 84,000 initially estimated. However, the cuts in July turned out to be 67,000, more than the 60,000 previously reported.
In September, job losses were widespread.
Manufacturers cut 51,000 jobs, construction companies axed 35,000 jobs, retailers got rid of 40,000 positions, business services shed 27,000 and financial services slashed 17,000 positions. Leisure and hospitality companies also reduced employment by 17,000.
That reductions offset employment gains by the government in education, health and elsewhere.
The health of the job market is critical for the overall economy to grow. The worry is that employers, affected by the housing slump and the credit crunch, could cut back on hiring further.
Many analysts believe the U.S. economy will contract in the final quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year.
Source: Xinhua
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