Unemployment has risen in the United States and Europe, with the U.S. jobless rate hitting a 26-year high in June.

Thursday's report from the U.S. Labor Department said the U.S. economy had a net loss of 467,000 jobs for the month. That pushed the unemployment rate up slightly one-tenth of a percent to 9.5 percent.

People queue outside a Madrid, Spain job center on 04 May 2009In Europe, unemployment among the 16 nations that use the euro rose two-tenths of a percent to hit a 10-year high of 9.5 percent in May.  

Many other economic indicators have recently improved, or at least are declining at a slower rate. But economists said the job market lags behind other sectors because employers want to see stronger signs of economic growth before they start to re-hire people.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.