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U.S. Jobless Rate Rises to 25 Year High

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. employers cut 539,000 jobs in April, the fewest since October, according to government data on Friday that signaled the economy’s steep decline may be easing.

However, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate soared to 8.9 percent, the highest since September 1983, from 8.5 percent in March. Payrolls figures for March and February were revised to show job losses were 66,000 more than previously reported.

Still, the better-than-expected data was further confirmation that the intensity of the recession was starting to fade, with economic activity expected to gradually recover toward the end of the year.

“It’s all going to add to the conviction that the economy is approaching bottom,” said Pierre Ellis of Decision Economics in New York.