Job Losses Slowed in July

Good news: Job losses slowed in July and the unemployment rate dropped for the first time since April 2008, the Labor Department reported Friday. President Obama touted the gains in a press conference Friday, saying the numbers prove his administration "rescued our economy from catastrophe." But the Washington Post had a gloomier take, saying much of the drop in unemployment was the result of people removing themselves from the labor market altogether, or giving up on trying to find work. The jobless rate fell to 9.4 percent in July, from 9.5 percent in June. Payrolls fell by 247,000 in July—following a loss of 443,000 in June. And the news significantly beat analysts’ expectations. They had predicted, on average, that losses would raise to 9.6 percent (some even predicted the number would reach double digits) and that payrolls would drop by 325,000.