U.S. Jobless Rate Drops To 6.8 Pet: Numbers Disappoint Analysts, Markets
The nationÛªs unemployment rate dropped to 6.8 percent in July, but Labor Department statistics released yesterday also suggested that U.S. companies continued to lay off workers last month.</br></br>Analysts and financial markets were disappointed with the numbe/s and viewed the modest decline in joblessness as a further sign of an anemic recovery, although President Bush said he was "delightedÛª with the new unemployment numbers.</br></br>7.0	percent rate, the Labor DepartmentÛªs figures also showed a drop in payroll employment and in the overall labor force. Most analysts were expecting an increase in overall employment.</br></br>"The recovery is still intact, but ... the lackluster nature of the July report does ... raise serious questions about the viability and sustainability of the nascent recovery." said Thomas Carpenter, chief economist of Washington-based ASB Capital Management Inc. Carpenter pointed to a drop of 51,000 in payroll employment, reductions in total hours worked in the private nonfarm economy and decreases in wage rates as signs of weakness.</br></br>The Washington areaÛªs employment numbers reflected the uneven and tentative nature of the economic recovery. June unemployment rose.to 4.6	percent in the metropolitan area, up from 4.2 percent in May, while joblessness in the District feli to 7.6 percent from 8.2 percent. Unemployment in Maryland was 6.0 percent' in June, up from 5.8 percent in May.;