Unemployment rate hits 9.5 percent, 26-year high

Employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, suggesting that the economy’s road to recovery will be a bumpy one.

Economists had expected 363,000 job cuts last months, and that the jobless rate would rise to 9.6 percent from 9.4 percent in May.

If laid-off workers who have given up looking for new jobs or have settled for part-time work are included, the unemployment rate would have been 16.5 percent in June, the highest on records dating back to1994.