U.S. sheds far fewer jobs than expected in May

Have jobs losses bottomed and the U.S. economy finally started to turn the corner? Perhaps. The U.S. economy lost "only" 345,000 jobs in May, the U.S. Labor Department announced Friday, with the nation's unemployment rate rising to 9.4 percent from 8.9 percent. But the job loss total was considerably less than expected, suggesting layoffs may have peaked.

Further, it was the lowest job loss total in eight months. A Bloomberg News economists survey had forecast the economy to shed 530,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate to hit 9.2 percent. The economy lost a revised 617,000 jobs in April.