US adds 69,000 jobs in May, jobless rate at 8.2%

The US economy only added a meager 69,000 jobs in May, pushing the unemployment rate up to 8.2 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday.

The closely watched workforce figures were well below expectations of a 150,000 jobs increase and for the jobless rate to hold steady at 8.1 percent from April.

The Labor Department also slashed its estimate of April job gains by 33 percent, to 77,000.

The data showed a nascent recovery in the job market had stalled. In the first quarter, the average job gain was 226,000. In April and May, the average fell to 73,000.

The number of people unemployed rose to 12.7 million, up from 12.5 million in April.