- Recovery jolt: few new jobs as jobless rate rises to 9.8%, By Motoko Rich, December 3, 2010, New York Times: “In a jolting surprise to the economic recovery and market expectations, the United States economy added just 39,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, according to the Department of Labor. November’s number was nowhere near enough to help the large ranks of the unemployed, and was far below analysts’ consensus forecast of close to 150,000 jobs and an unchanged jobless rate of 9.6 percent. More than 15 million people remain out of work, and 6.3 million of them have been unemployed for six months or longer…”
- Unemployment jumps, job creation slows. Is economic stall-out here?, By Ron Scherer, December 3, 2010, Christian Science Monitor: “The American jobs machine seems to have slipped into slow-motion mode in November. The US economy gained a disappointing 39,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, up from 9.6 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday. This was a sharp drop-off from October, when the nation’s economy added 172,000 jobs. The report was a surprise to many economists, who had expected much better numbers given that recent statistics indicated that the economy was showing some signs of strength. Retailers, for example, have in recent days reported better-than-expected sales, but the jobs report showed a loss of 28,000 jobs in the sector. Moreover, some recent surveys pointed to greater optimism among consumers and businesses, but the November report showed very few sectors adding jobs, stagnant worker hours, and a rising tide of unemployed workers…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty