A report from a private employment service says that US employers shed 532,000 jobs in May, less than in April, but not much less. It’s also less than expected.

The WSJ says:

Private sector jobs in the U.S. fell by 532,000 slots in May, according to a national employment report published Wednesday by payroll giant Automatic Data Processing Inc. and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers.

The expected loss is less than the 550,000 drop forecast by economists in a Dow Jones Newswires survey.

Meanwhile, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that unemployment will continue to rise even after our economy starts to recover.

“…recovery will only gradually gain momentum and that economic slack will diminish slowly. In particular, businesses are likely to be cautious about hiring and the unemployment rate is likely to rise for a time, even after economic growth resumes,” Bernanke said.

So keep your chin up, we suppose.

ADP Reports 532,000 Private-Sector Job Losses [WSJ]
Bernanke: Recovery will be slow [CNNMoney]
(Photo:Hulgatha Doodlesack)

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