US hit by dismal jobless figures

Another 467,000 Americans were laid off in June, many more than had been feared. The figures came in a Labor Department report that immediately had Wall Street grimacing.

Most forecasters had been expecting around 350,000 lay offs, which would have been bad news anyway.

The cuts were spread across all sectors except for education and health.

The job losses are expected to continue until the end of the year at the earliest, reaching the ten percent threshold from the current 9.5 percent.

Fresh lay offs will come from bankrupt car-makers GM and Chrysler and other sectors including nappy- and tissue-producer Kimberley-Clark and farming equipment giant Deere & Co.