Worries Grow Over US Jobs.....!!!!

 Worries Grow Over US Jobs

The U.S. economy added painfully few jobs for the second month in a row, undermining hopes that the sluggish recovery was getting back on track, depressing financial markets and putting new pressure on policy makers to come to the rescue.

The government's broadest snapshot of employment showed the nation added just 18,000 jobs in June. Private-sector hiring slipped to its slowest pace in over a year, and government continued shedding workers. May's equally disappointing job-creation number was cut in half.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 9.2%, from 9.1% in May. The report also showed that even more workers dropped out of the job market.

The economy has been fitful for two years since the recession formally ended. In the past, spending and hiring rapidly recovered after deep downturns. But the damage the housing bust and subsequent credit crisis did to household and business balance sheets appears to have hobbled that rebound.

Most economists remain hopeful that hiring will increase in the months to come as supply-chain disruptions ease and as lower gasoline prices boost spending power. But the weak jobs report raises the chances that consumers will hold off on purchases and that, in turn, will make companies reluctant to hire. "We really do need to see some signs that economic growth is picking up in the near future," said Goldman Sachs economist Andrew Tilton. "The pressure is on."

June's dismal numbers contradict a string of relatively upbeat recent reports on the economy, which had convinced many investors and economists that it was gaining steam. Stocks fell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding 62.29 points to 12657.20. Treasurys rose, pushing their yields lower.

The weakness in Friday's jobs report was broad-based.
Alongside scant hiring, wages edged lower, and the amount of time private-sector workers clocked on the job each week slipped. The numbers also hinted at trouble to come: Temporary-help jobs, which often signal the job market's direction, fell by 12,000, the third straight monthly decline.

Average hourly earnings for all workers on private payrolls edged down 1 cent to $22.99 in June. The average work week slipped to 34.3 hours from 34.4 in May.

Hiring was tepid across most industries. Manufacturing employment, which many economists expected to climb as supply disruptions stemming from Japan's earthquake eased, rose by just 6,000. Retailing jobs increased by only 5,000, despite reports from many stores of solid June sales. Construction payrolls fell by 9,000 and the financial-services sector cut 15,000 jobs.

"Every major component of the report was weak," said Bank of America-Merrill Lynch economist Ethan Harris. "That doesn't happen very often—usually there's some little ray of hope. The only silver lining is it might motivate Washington to get its act together."

President Barack Obama, who is to meet with congressional leaders Sunday as part of talks to reduce the budget deficit, tied uncertainty over the debt ceiling and the lack of a concrete deficit-reduction plan to the weak job market.

"The American people need us to do everything we can to help strengthen this economy and make sure that we are producing more jobs,"