Tipsheet

Unemployment Rises to 9.1 Percent

The unemployment rate has risen to 9.1 percent this month, higher than economists had predicted. Analysts expected 155,000 jobs would be added, but less than 66 percent of that number or 54,000 jobs were added in May, a dismal amount. The news comes at the end of a week full of terrible economic news including an avalanche of home foreclosures, less private sector hiring than expected, the stock market taking a major dive two days in a row and a threat from Moody's, a respected credit agency, warning lawmakers the U.S. AAA credit rating may be downgraded if they cannot come up with a plan to deal with the debt crisis. The unemployment rate has been hovering around 9 percent for 23 of the past 25 months.