Re: Unemployment Hits 9.7 Percent

Meredith Jessup | September 04, 2009 9:05 AM

As Jillian mentioned, just one day after Vice President Joe Biden boasted that the administration's stimulus plan has "saved or created 750,000 jobs," national unemployment data released this morning paints a very different picture.

Bloomberg's got the numbers:

The U.S. jobless rate in August jumped to 9.7 percent, the highest since 1983, and employers cut another 216,000 jobs, highlighting threats to consumer spending.
The increase in the unemployment rate from 9.4 percent exceeded forecasts. The smaller-than-anticipated drop in payrolls was the least in a year, and followed a decrease of 276,000 in July that was larger than previously reported, Labor Department data showed today in Washington. ...
Adjusted for part-time employees that would rather have a full-time job and for discouraged workers that are no longer looking for a job but would take one if it were available, the jobless rate jumped to 16.8 percent in August from 16.3 percent.

A rising jobless rate, stagnant wages and falling home values signal a lack of consumer spending may curb an economic recovery.

Today’s report showed factory payrolls fell by 63,000 after decreasing 43,000 in the prior month. Economists forecast a drop of 60,000. The decrease included a loss of 15,000 jobs in auto manufacturing and parts industries.