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As millions of Americans get ready for the July 4th holiday weekend, some more dreary news on the job front.

The government reported another 467,000 jobs were lost in June — far worse than forecast and the first time in four months that the number of jobs lost went up.

The unemployment rate — now at 9.5 percent — has gone up for nine straight months and sits at a 26-year high. One expert describes these numbers as not catastrophic… but "still pretty damn lousy."

As the recession drags on, a new Gallup poll shows 71-percent of Americans say they have cut back spending… while 88-percent say they're watching spending very closely. This is despite the fact that 78-percent of those surveyed say they have enough money to buy only what they need.

21-percent say they worried "yesterday" about spending too much.

Gallup suggests these results show Americans may have reached a "new normal" of spending less and that frugality may become a permanent part of the national fabric.

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