FOXNews.com: June Swoon: Only 80,000 Jobs Added

FOXNews.com FOX News Channel - We Report. You Decide. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

June Swoon: Only 80,000 Jobs Added Jul 6th 2012, 14:29 Employers added a meager 80,000 jobs in June, marking the third straight month of weak hiring and raising concern that the economy has taken a turn for the worse.  The Labor Department reported Friday that the jobless rate was unchanged at 8.2 percent. The number of jobs added in June was lower than expected, and rounds out a poor second quarter for 2012.  The average number of monthly jobs created in the first quarter of the year was 226,000 -- by contrast, that average in the second quarter was just 75,000.  The number is sure to resonate on the presidential campaign trail, as President Obama courts blue-collar voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania on his first 2012 campaign bus tour Friday. The president took heat last month for the worst jobs report in a year -- Friday's report was only modestly better, opening up heated criticism from Republicans.  "Today's report shows the private sector clearly isn't 'doing fine' and that President Obama's policies have failed," House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement, referring to Obama's gaffe in which he described private sector growth as "fine."  Obama is expected to speak about the jobs report later in the morning Friday.  For the U.S. economy, the only good news came in the form of incremental changes. The average work week grew to 34.5 hours from 34.4 in May, boosting many workers' paychecks. And average hourly wages rose 6 cents to $23.50.  But on a whole, none of these changes are enough to fuel an economic recovery. While professional and business services saw the best growth in June, other industries like construction and hospitality saw almost no change in June. In the second quarter of 2012, job growth has slowed across almost every industry.  A weaker job market has made consumers less confident. They have pulled back on spending, even though gas prices have plunged.  High unemployment could shift momentum to Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. An Associated Press-GfK poll released last month found that more than half of those surveyed disapproved of President Barack Obama's handling of the economy.  Dismal June job figures could also prompt the Federal Reserve to take further action to try to boost the economy. The Fed last month downgraded its economic outlook for 2012. It predicted growth of just 1.9 percent to 2.4 percent for the year and little change in the unemployment rate.  Job gains in April and May were little changed from the department's previous estimates.  About one-third of the jobs gained in June were in temporary services. Manufacturing added 11,000, its ninth straight month of gains. But growth in factory jobs slowed sharply in the second quarter compared to the first. Health care added 13,000 jobs and financial services gained 5,000. Retailers, transportation firms and government cut jobs.  The Associated Press contributed to this report.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions