After increasing 0.1 percent in May, the US unemployment rate climbed another 0.1 percent to 9.2 percent in June, marking the third consecutive monthly increase, according to a report Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US Department of Labor. US employers only added 18,000 net jobs in June, and May's 54,000 job gain was adjusted down to only 25,000.
There were some bright spots in June, however; employment in the mining industry rose by 8,000; the construction unemployment level fell to 15.6 percent in June, down from 20.1 percent in June 2010, and manufacturing employment was 9.2 percent in June compared to 9.9 percent a year ago.
The unemployment numbers were more optimistic in Canada, according to a Statistics Canada report Friday. Employment rose by 28,400 in June, while the jobless rate remained unchanged at 7.4 percent.