After Thursday's Automatic Data Processing (ADP) survey of private payrolls reported 157,000 new jobs in June, hopes were high that the U.S. economy might just be starting to gain momentum. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment report quickly crushed those dreams, showing a mere 18,000 new jobs in June (private payrolls up 57,000), with a net downward revision of 44,000 jobs in April and May. Economic releases this week include: The BLS' unemployment rate rose to 9.2% from 9.1% in June, to make matters worse. Initial jobless claims fell 14,000 to 418,000 in the week ended July 2 from the prior week's upwardly revised figure of 432,000. The reading remains above the 400,000 mark for the 13th consecutive
