**The US economy lost 247,000 jobs in July, far less than analysts had expected, official figures show.**With fewer workers being laid off, the unemployment rate fell to 9.4%, down from 9.5% in the previous month, the first drop since April 2008.
The unexpected drop is likely to fuel hopes that the economic recovery is gaining ground.
Since the recession began in December 2007, about 6.7 million jobs have been lost, the Labor Department said.
Revisions
Analysts had expected non-farm payrolls to drop by 320,000 in July and the unemployment rate to rise to 9.6%.
Job losses were spread across all sectors, though just 52,000 jobs were lost in manufacturing, the first time since September that manufacturing losses were less than 100,000.
Jobs continued to be added in the education and health services, with 17,000 more posts for the sector during the month.
Meanwhile, the construction industry saw 76,000 fewer jobs for July, though the drop was less than predicted.
Analysts attributed the lower rate of contraction to the government’s stimulus package, which helped boost infrastructure schemes.
Revised data also showed fewer job were lost in June and May than had been thought. Employers cut 303,000 positions in May, less than the 322,000 previously estimated. And in June 443,000 jobs were cut from an earlier figure of 467,000.