WASHINGTON, July 3: US President George W. Bush is “concerned” about the rise in unemployment but believes that the recently approved tax cut will help revive the ailing US economy, the White House said Thursday.

“The president notes the increased unemployment,” said spokesman Ari Fleischer. “The president continues to be concerned about any American who’s looking for work and is unable to find it.

But Bush considers the recent tax cut “well-timed” and views unemployment as a “lagging indicator” — one behind economic trends, said Fleischer.

Fleischer’s comments came after the US government said that the unemployment rate shot up unexpectedly to a nine-year high of 6.4 percent in June from 6.1 percent in May.

Businesses axed 30,000 jobs, taking the jobless rate to its highest level since April 1994, worse than had been expected by Wall Street economists, as the sluggish pace of the postwar recovery failed to produce work.

“The labor market remained weak in June,” said Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Kathleen Utgoff.

Additionally, May’s report was was downwardly revised to show a loss of 70,000 jobs, more than the 17,000 estimated a month ago.—AFP