Poor US jobs report sends recovery hopes reeling

A poor jobs report in the US for June is yet another indicator that economic recovery is slowing. Employers cut 125,000 jobs last month, the most since October, the US labour department said on Friday.

The loss was driven by the end of 225,000 temporary census jobs. Though businesses added a net total of 83,000 workers - the sixth straight month of private-sector job gains – it is not enough to speed up recovery.

The disappointing jobs report sent stocks falling and gave the Dow Jones Industrial Average its longest losing streak since the worst days of the financial crisis.

The report said unemployment dropped to 9.5 per cent, the lowest level since July 2009, from 9.7 per cent. But the fall was attributed to the exit of more than 650,000 people from the ranks of those still looking for jobs. People no longer looking for work aren't counted as unemployed.

Experts say people left the work force because they saw no prospects for employment. "They think there's nothing out there," said an analyst.

In a separate report, factory orders fell by 1.4 per cent in May, the commerce department said. It was the first decline after nine months of gains and the biggest drop since March 2009.