Jobs, 2009 | featured news

The government said the economy shed 85,000 jobs last month, surprising forecasters, while the unemployment rate held steady at 10 percent.

U.S. job openings and hirings fell in October, government data showed on Tuesday, highlighting the continued distress in the labor market.

The U.S. labor market improved in November, with the number of jobs lost in the private sector falling again and the number of planned layoffs also easing, separate reports showed on Wednesday.

Before leaving for Asia, the president discloses plans for a December event to highlight efforts to turn around the economy.

US consumer confidence fell sharply in October as fears about job prospects prayed upon Americans, figures show.

A net 263,000 jobs were eliminated in September, pushing the jobless rate to a 26-year high. Stocks fall on the news. The nation's labor market took a turn for the worse in September as employers eliminated a net 263,000 jobs, far more than expected and reversing a pattern of steadily declining payroll losses in recent months, the Labor Department said today.

Even as the July numbers came in better than expected, the job market remains shaky in the months ahead.

The number of newly laid-off Americans filing jobless claims fell more than expected last week and retail sales grew in May for the first time in three months, fresh evidence that the worst of the recession may have past.

The U.S. unemployment rate was the highest in 26 years, the government said on Friday, but the loss of 345,000 jobs in May, fewer than expected, was seen as a sign that the job market was no longer in free fall.

Discounter Wal-Mart Stores Inc says it will add more than 22000 jobs in its US namesake stores in 2009.