In the midst of the longest recession in 80 years, the unemployment rate is the highest it has been in 26%.
From the New York Times:
The United States economy shed 190,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate reached a 26-year high of 10.2 percent, up from 9.8 percent in September, the Department of Labor said Friday in its monthly economic appraisal.
While the pace of the job losses has slowed significantly since the peak of the recession last winter, the unemployment rate, which measures the number of people actively seeking work, continues to climb, and economists do not foresee relief until well into next year.
Leave it to the NY Times to find something to spin. The pace of the job losses has slowed significantly… It’s over 10%. One in ten working adults are out of a job… chew on that for while. Have you seen your paper’s want ads recently? Pretty depressing. This doesn’t include those who have had to settle for a part-time job or those who stopped looking all together.
I know people in that boat, so this number could be higher. The simple fact is that this is further proof that the stimulus failed. It was supposed to keep unemployment at 8%, but it hasn’t. It continues to rise. Actually Bloomberg notes the underemployment rate:
The so-called underemployment rate — which includes part- time workers who’d prefer a full-time position and people who want work but have given up looking — reached a record 17.5 percent from 17 percent in September.
But expect the White House to keep spinning the numbers.
HT: Memeorandum