Unemployment Rate Rises to 9.4%

The U.S. unemployment rate jumped half a percentage point to 9.4% in May from 8.9% in April, but employers cut the fewest amount of jobs in eight months, the Labor Department said Friday.

Payrolls fell by 345,000 following a revised 504,000 reduction in April, Labor said.

The trucking industry lost 8,100 jobs for the month, down from recent monthly losses, Labor said in its monthly report.

The jobless rate was higher than the 9.2% forecast by economists, Bloomberg reported.

Payrolls were forecast to drop to 520,000 following the 539,000 decrease originally reported for April, Bloomberg said.

Factory payrolls fell by 156,000 following a 154,000 decline in April. The downturn included 29,800 jobs lost in auto manufacturing and related parts industries.

Service industries employment fell by 120,000 jobs following a reduction of 230,000 a month earlier, Labor said.