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Investing August 3, 2001
Jobless Rate Is Unchanged in July
August 3, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The US
unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.5% in July, with
employers shedding 42,000 jobs, the Labor Department reported
Friday.
Reported by John van Rosendaal
The slight decline in jobs pointed to continued weakness, reinforcing analysts’ beliefs that the Federal Reserve, the central bank, will cut short-term interest rates for the seventh time this year at its next meeting later this month.
The steady rate was better than the reading of 4.6% that analysts had predicted.
Employers cut 42,000 jobs outside the farm sector last month, compared with a revised loss of 93,000 jobs in June. Meanwhile, wages rose by 4 cents to $14.35 an hour in July, a 0.3% gain.