The U.S. labor market improved again last month, adding another 195,000 jobs, even as the country’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.6 percent.

The government reported Friday that hiring picked up in several parts of the world’s largest economy, including professional, business and financial services, as well as in hospitality, retail and health care.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that 11.8 million workers remain unemployed, a figure virtually unchanged since February. The jobless rate in the U.S. is stuck well above the long-term standard of below 6 percent, as the country sluggishly recovers from the deep economic downturn in 2008 and 2009.

Hiring has advanced in recent months, however, and some economic analysts say that could help boost the American economy in the second half of the year.

In the latest report, the government said that 394,000 jobs were added in April and May, 70,000 more than first estimated.  

Policy makers at the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, are weighing when to trim their massive monthly purchases of securities to pump money into the economy. Chairman Ben Bernanke says the Fed could start cutting back later this year and end the asset purchases in 2014.

But the Fed expects to leave its low benchmark interest rate unchanged until the jobless rate falls another percentage point. [Read More]

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Source: VOA News: War and Conflict