WASHINGTON
(AFP) - US President George W. Bush is "concerned"
about the rise in unemployment but believes
that the recently approved tax cut will help
revive the ailing US economy, the White House
said.
"The president notes the increased unemployment,"
said spokesman Ari Fleischer "The president
continues to be concerned about any American
who's looking for work and is unable to find
it.
But Bush considers the recent tax cut "well-timed"
and views unemployment as a "lagging
indicator" -- one behind economic trends,
said Fleischer.
Fleischer's comments came after the US government
said that the unemployment rate shot up unexpectedly
to a nine-year high of 6.4 percent in June
from 6.1 percent in May.
Businesses axed 30,000 jobs, taking the jobless
rate to its highest level since April 1994,
worse than had been expected by Wall Street
economists, as the sluggish pace of the postwar
recovery failed to produce work.
"The labor market remained weak in June,"
said Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner
Kathleen Utgoff.
Additionally, May's report was was downwardly
revised to show a loss of 70,000 jobs, more
than the 17,000 estimated a month ago.
The economy has lost 394,000 jobs since January
and more than 2.5 million over the past two
years.
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