Payrolls decreased in 27 U.S. states in June, led by California and New York, signaling the slowdown in hiring is broad-based.
Employers in California cut staff by 27,600 workers last month and those in New York reduced employment by 22,500, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Tennessee, Arizona and New Mexico rounded out the five states with the biggest job losses.
The U.S. lost 125,000 jobs last month as the government cut temporary workers conducting the 2010 census and private payrolls rose a less-than-forecast 83,000, according to Labor Department figures issued July 2. The data signal companies are becoming reticent to hire as the economy cools.
“Businesses are looking at what’s going on in Europe and the stock outlook and people are becoming a little more skittish,” Marisa Di Natale, a director at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said before the report. “We may see that for a couple of more months until we start to see some real momentum in some sector of the economy.”