US job losses slow

Bloomberg

Payrolls fell by 345,000, the smallest decrease in eight months, after a revised 504,000 loss in April, the Labor Department said Friday. The jobless rate increased to 9.4 percent, the highest since 1983. A deceleration in firings, combined with stabilization in housing and manufacturing, signal the economic slump is easing. Still, Americans are spending less as home values fall and companies from American Express to General Motors pare jobs, meaning expansion may be muted.