Oct

6

Job Losses Pile up in September

Filed Under Economy | Leave a Comment

The US economy is shedding jobs at the fastest pace in the last five years in a grim indication that the country is directly heading for a recession.

On Friday, the US Department of Labor released a report which put the number of jobs slashed in September at 159000, more than double the cuts made just a month ago. This was the ninth consecutive month of job losses and the present rate of job cuts is the highest since 2003. Till date almost 760000 jobs have been lost in this year alone.

Other figures from the Labor Department’s report reveal that the country’s rate of unemployment has climbed up to 6.1% from the much lower 4.8 % a year back. Moreover in the past one year, the number of unemployed people has increased by 2.2 million and now stands at 9.5 million. The unemployment rate among African-Americans stood at 11.4%, the highest since late 2003.

Many economists believe that despite the $700 billion bailout package for the finance sector, job losses will continue for some more time. Recession-like conditions could take the unemployment rate to even 7% in late 2009 before the situation turns around. All these concerns have made the economy the number one election issue as America votes for its next president in November.