US companies cut nearly a half million jobs last month as the recession continued to cut into the labour market in spite of other recent signs of hope in the economy.

Private companies cut 473,000 jobs from their payrolls in June, according to a survey by ADP employer services on Wednesday. The figure was slightly lower than the revised 485,000 jobs slashed in May, but was worse than economists expected and raised fears that the unemployment rate would continue to climb.