pelley: good evening. today for the last time america reached for the heavens with its space shuttle. atlantis, the last in the fleet, roared aloft on a tower of flame, the 135th shuttle launch over 30 years, an ending to what is perhaps the greatest engineering achievement of all time. but this day was bittersweet because many people who shared in that achievement and depended on the shuttle for their livelihood will soon be out of work in the toughest job market in decades. these are the numbers that brought the country back down to earth today. the labor department reported that the economy created only 18,000 jobs last month, and with that the unemployment rate rose to 9.2%, the highest since december. anthony mason begins our coverage. reporter: for more than 14 million unemployed americans, june was a discouraging month. private companies added only 57,000 jobs, and with state government struggling minnesota s has shut down nearly 40,000 government workers lost
lost their jobs. after three months in which the economy looked strong, averaging more than 200,000 job gains, in may and june, it just flatlined. businesses just froze. they re not laying off workers, but they have stopped hiring. reporter: economist mark zandi believes higher gas prices stalled out an economy still trying to get back to full speed. the size of the economy is actually bigger than it was before the recession hit, however, we are lucky if we got a quarter of the jobs back. reporter: economist lakshman achuthan sees a fundamental shift in the economy that affects our ability to create jobs. i think a lot of people think the jobs problem was caused by the recession. no, it wasn t. something was ailing our economy before the great recession. reporter: more than 18 million jobs were created during each decade. but from 2000 to 2007, the economy added only 7 million. reporter: the seven years before the great recession hit marked the worst business
reached for the heavens with its space shuttle. atlantis, the last in the fleet, roared aloft on a tower of flame, the 135th shuttle launch over 30 years, an ending to what is perhaps the greatest engineering achievement of all time. but this day was bittersweet because many people who shared in that achievement and depended on the shuttle for their livelihood will soon be out of work in the toughest job market in decades. these are the numbers that brought the country back down to earth today. the labor department reported that the economy created only 18,000 jobs last month, and with that the unemployment rate rose to 9.2%, the highest since december. anthony mason begins our coverage. reporter: for more than 14 million unemployed americans, june was a discouraging month. private companies add only 57,000 jobs, and with state government struggling, minnesota s has shut down, nearly 40,000 government workers lost their jobs. after three months in which the economy looked