U.S. Unemployment Edges Toward Double Digits

Economic news and pessimistic views: U.S. unemployment increased slightly to 9.8 percent and, moreover, this figure shows the crisis is far from over, experts say. Joblessness is at a 26-year high.

The Guardian:

American employers cut 263,000 jobs last month, pushing the US unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.8%, in a worse-than-expected set of figures which fuelled anxiety that stimulus efforts are failing to strengthen the ailing labour market.

The number of job losses sharply exceeded a consensus forecast among economists of around 187,000 for September, and the figure was significantly worse than a revised figure of 201,000 losses in August.

It was the 21st consecutive monthly drop in jobs, providing a stark reminder that the economic crisis is far from over. The unemployment rate ticked up by a tenth of a percentage point from August’s figure of 9.7%.

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