The US Labor Department, in a report released Thursday, said that employers cut a total of approximately 467,000 jobs just this past June, a figure that is significantly higher than the initially-predicted 363,000.

This spikes the US unemployment rate to 9.5 percent, a 26-year high. However, economists also report that the spike is not as bad as the predicted 9.6 percent from May’s recorded 9.4 percent figure.

The Labor Department shares that even if the economy is slowly showing signs of an easier recession, employers are not yet willing to let go of their “safety blankets” as they continue to cut costs. As of June, there are currently around 14.7 million unemployed workers.