The US economy shed another 54,000 jobs in August, the third month in a row that jobs have been lost. The overall loss of jobs in August was because of a fall in government employment. Government jobs fell by 121,000, largely because of the loss of 114,000 temporary employees who had been taken on to compile the US census, but who finished their work in August. The Labor Department said the private sector, however, created 67,000 jobs, more than analysts had been expecting. As a result of the overall fall in job numbers, the unemployment rate rose to 9.6 per cent, from 9.5 per cent in July. Many analysts are concerned that high unemployment is undermining the US economic recovery.