Employers slashed 84,000 jobs in August and the jobless rate jumped to a five-year high of 6.1%, according to a report released by the Department of Labor on Sept. 5.
The agency also revised its figures from the prior two months to show a loss of 60,000 positions in July and 100,000 in June, up from earlier estimates of a drop of 51,000 in each of the two months.
The latest figures show a cumulative loss of 605,000 jobs since the start of 2008.
Among various sectors, manufacturing shed 61,000 jobs and construction employment dropped by 8,000. The service sector lost 27,000 jobs.
Among the sectors gaining jobs were education (55,000) and government (17,000).
Average hourly wages rose 0.4% to $18.14, slightly above expectations of a 0.3% increase.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
