Unemployment Jumps to 5.5% in the U.S.

"The 0.5 per cent jump was far above the 5.1 per cent that analysts had been expecting, and was the biggest month-over-month increase since 1986.

"A year earlier, the rate was 4.5 per cent. The number of people out of work in May was 8.5 million, up by 861,000 from April, and 1.6 million from May 2007.

"Payrolls shrank by 49,000 jobs in May, with losses in construction, manufacturing, retail and temporary help services.

"It was the fifth month in a row that employers have cut jobs."

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/06/06/us-jobs.html