US unemployment rate highest since 1983
October 3rd, 2009 - 6:21 am ICT by IANS
Washington, Oct 3 (DPA) The US economy continued to shed jobs in the construction, manufacturing, retail and government branches, with the unemployment rate rising to 9.8 percent in September, the government said Friday.
The rate compared to 9.7 percent unemployment in August, and was the highest since 1983.
September saw the loss of another 263,000 jobs, bringing the total jobs lost since the recession began in December 2007 to 7.2 million, the biggest decline since the Great Depression.
Despite the poor jobs report, President Barack Obama said the economy is nevertheless improving but cautioned it will take time for a full recovery.
“Today’s job report is a sobering reminder that progress comes in fits and starts and that we’re going to need to grind out this recovery step by step,” he said.
Earlier this week, there were signs that the recession was easing, with US economic growth shrinking by only 0.7 percent - the best performance in more than a year.
But on Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that expansion may not be strong enough to “substantially” bring down unemployment. Continuing high unemployment figures prevent a rise in consumer spending that makes up more than two-thirds of the US economy.
All told, 15.1 million people are out of work in the US.
- US economy grew 2.5 percent in third quarter - Oct 28, 2011
- US Fed hints at new steps to boost recovery - Apr 26, 2012
- Unemployment hits 8-year high in Italy - Mar 02, 2012
- US forecasts slow economic growth in coming quarters - Feb 16, 2012
- Drop in US unemployment brings cheer to Obama - Dec 03, 2011
- US adds less jobs in a sluggish economy (Lead) - Dec 04, 2010
- US growth revised to 1.6 percent in second quarter - Aug 27, 2010
- US factory orders rose in July - Sep 01, 2011
- US consumer prices dip - Nov 17, 2011
- US jobless rate still high because of rise in unemployment - Sep 06, 2010
- US consumer prices rose in September - Oct 20, 2011
- US unemployment rate rises to 10.2 percent - Nov 06, 2009
- US economic recovery speeds up: Obama - Feb 04, 2012
- New US jobless claims climb to 417,000 - Aug 26, 2011
- US jobless claims at four-year low - Mar 23, 2012
Tags: 1 million, barack obama, best performance, consumer spending, decline, economic growth, economy, federal reserve, federal reserve chairman, federal reserve chairman ben bernanke, fits and starts, government branches, great depression, jobs, recession, reminder, signs, two thirds, unemployment figures, unemployment rate