WASHINGTON, US - The US private sector shed 473,000 jobs in June to cope with a prolonged recession, a survey by payrolls firm ADP showed Wednesday.

The job cuts were worse than the 395,000 expected by most analysts but lower than 485,000 in May, which was revised down by 47,000 from the previous 532,000 figure.

Monthly employment losses in April, May, and June averaged 492,000, a notable improvement over the first three months of the year, when monthly losses averaged 691,000, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report.

"Nevertheless, despite some recent indications that economic activity is stabilizing, employment, which usually trails overall economic activity, is likely to decline for at least several more months, although perhaps not as rapidly as during the last six months," ADP said. --AFP