Unemployment, May | featured news

Unemployment in the 17-country euro currency bloc hit another record in May as the crippling financial crisis pushed the continent toward the brink of recession, official figures showed Monday.

The nation's job market took a turn for the worse last month as employers sharply pulled back their hiring and the unemployment rate edged up to 9.1%, the Labor Department said Friday.

The U.S. unemployment rate was the highest in 26 years, the government said on Friday, but the loss of 345,000 jobs in May, fewer than expected, was seen as a sign that the job market was no longer in free fall.