July Unemployment at Four-Year High as Payrolls Fall

U.S. payrolls declined in July as the unemployment rate rose to 5.7%, the highest level since 2004, the Labor Department said Friday.

Jobs fell by 51,000, the seventh straight monthly decline, after a drop of 51,000 in June that was smaller than initially reported. Total job losses for the 2008 are now 463,000.

Economists had forecast a 75,000 drop for July, and a rise in the unemployment rate to 5.6%, Bloomberg said.

Factory payrolls fell 35,000 after declining by the same amount in June. Economists had forecast a 40,000 drop in factory jobs, Bloomberg reported.

Service jobs shed 5,000 workers, the first decline since March.