60,000 Lose Jobs As Oil Prices Skyrocket

Mounting job losses, record gasoline prices and tumbling home values have crushed consumer confidence, raising concern that spending will retrench once the lift from the tax rebates fades. Businesses are also purchasing less equipment as fuel costs soar, prompting factories to scale back.

Payrolls shrank by 60,000 workers, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before the Labor Department's report on July 3. The unemployment rate may have fallen after jumping last month by the most in two decades.

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Manufacturing, which accounts for about 12 percent of the economy, probably shrank for a fifth month in June, the Institute for Supply Management's factory index may show on July 1. The gauge probably fell to 48.6 from 49.6 the prior month, according to economists polled. A reading less than 50 signals contraction.