- US unemployment rate rose to 9.8% in September as employers cut more jobs than expected.
- US economy lost a net total of 263,000 jobs for September, up from 201,000 in August which is way above market expectations of 180,000 job losses.
- It is said that if laid-off workers who have settled for part-time work or who have given up looking for new jobs are included, the unemployment rate would actually be 17%. Which is the biggest record since the peak of the 1994 recession.
- More than 500,000 unemployed gave up looking for work, if they had continued looking for work, the jobless rate would have been higher.
- 15.1 million Americans are now out of work, more than 7.1 million jobs have been eliminated since the recession began in December of 2007.
- It is highly likely now that unemployment will now break about the 10% line.
- Since now, the economy has received a fair amount of boost from the cash for clunkers auto rebate program and other government stimulus efforts, but many economists believe that growth will slow the current quarter and early next year as the impact of those trades fade.
- Persistently high unemployment rate could weaken the recovery as consumers concerned about their jobs and income, refrain from spending. Which accounts for 70% of the US GDP.
- Average hourly work week fell back to record low of 33 in September. Economists were looking for employers to add more hours to current workers before they hire new ones which doesn’t necessarily mean so based on the data.
"I don't think it argues against a modest recovery in the U.S. economy ... but this is why we are not in a rapid V-shaped recovery," Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services in Pittsburgh.
Source: Businessweek, Wells Fargo Economics Group, Barron's & Reuters
