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Job losses reach 532,000 in month

Posted on: Wednesday, 3 June 2009, 09:55 CDT

The U.S. shed 532,000 non-farm private jobs April to May, a research group said Wednesday.

Automatic Data Processing Inc. also revised its estimate of March to April job losses to 545,000 after previously estimating 491,000 jobs were lost a month ago.

Although a steep figure, the average monthly job losses in April and May, at 539,000, were a notable improvement over the January, February and March average of 691,000 job losses, ADP noted.

Manufacturing jobs shrank for the 39th consecutive month, losing 149,000 jobs. Service-producing jobs declined by 265,000 jobs, while goods-producing jobs shrank by 267,000, ADP said.

Construction jobs, in decline for 28 months, lost 108,000 jobs, adding to a total of 1,345,000 construction jobs lost since January 2007.

Companies with more than 500 workers lost 100,000 jobs during the month. Businesses with between 50 and 499 workers, lost 223,000 jobs, while smaller businesses lost 209,000 jobs, the report said.

Large businesses were the first to react to the recession with massive layoffs, but job losses at smaller businesses have added up. Small businesses have now shed 2,125,000 jobs since peaking in January 2008. ADP said.

Source: United Press International

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