Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in June (-467,000), and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.5%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US Department of Labor reported recently. Job losses were widespread across the major industry sectors, with large declines occurring in manufacturing, professional and business services, and construction.

The number of unemployed persons (14.7 million) and the unemployment rate (9.5%) were little changed in June. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 7.2 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 4.6 percentage points.

In June, unemployment rates for the major worker groups–adult men (10.0%), adult women (7.6%), teenagers (24.0%), whites (8.7%), blacks (14.7%), and Hispanics (12.2%)–showed little change. The unemployment rate for Asians was 8.2%, not seasonally adjusted.

Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs (9.6 million) was little changed in June after increasing by an average of 615,000 per month during the first 5 months of this year.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 433,000 over the month to 4.4 million. In June, 3 in 10 unemployed persons were jobless for 27 weeks or more.