Unemployment in the United States dipped slightly in July to 9.1 per cent, from 9.2 per cent the month before, amid better-than-expected jobs growth figures released Friday, reported the dpa. The US Department of Labor said non-farm payrolls increased by 117,000 during the month, in data being closely watched by nervous stock markets around the world. Prior to the report, job market experts had been forecasting an employment increase of 75,000 to 85,000. It was the strongest showing for the sluggish US labour market since April, after the jobless rate had been stuck at 9.2 per cent in May and June. President Barack Obama welcomed the dip in the US unemployment rate but said more must be done to create jobs and reemploy those who lost their jobs during the recession. Speaking to veterans at the Navy Yard in Washington, Obama said that although the number of private sector jobs has grown for the past 17 months, more jobs must be created to make up for the 8 million jobs lost during the recession. "My singular focus is the American people and getting the unemployed back on the job," Obama said. The Labor Department also retroactively revised the employment figures both for May and June, reporting a total of 56,000 higher job levels. It said that in May, total nonfarm payrolls increased by 53,000, as against the initially reported 25,000. The June figure was revised to 46,000, up from the initial figure of 18,000. Overall, the July figures changed little, the department summary noted, saying the number of unemployed was 13.9 million, as against 153.2 million people in the labour force. "Since April, the unemployment rate has shown little definitive movement," the department said. The report said total private employment rose by 154,000 during July, reflecting job gains in several major industries, including health care, retail trade, manufacturing, and mining. But government employment continued to decline, falling by 37,000, of which 23,000 job losses were accounted for by state governments, with almost all that figure caused by a partial shutdown of the state government of Minnesota. Obama noted the challenges faced by the US economy, including disruptions to oil and gas supplies because of the Arab Spring, supply disruptions caused by the Japanese tsunami and economic uncertainty in Europe.
