- In unemployment report, signs of a jobless recovery, By Peter S. Goodman and Jack Healy, September 4, 2009, New York Times: “The American economy lost another 216,000 jobs in August and the unemployment rate jumped to 9.7 percent, amplifying worries that millions of households are likely to endure financial anxiety and lean times for months to come. As a technical matter, most economists believe that the United States has escaped the grip of recession, the longest since the Great Depression. The Labor Department’s latest employment report, released Friday, added weight to the view that economic expansion has resumed, marking a continued albeit modest improvement to the rate of lost jobs. Yet the report also lent credence to a growing consensus that the recovery is likely to be weak and fragile, prompting most companies to hold back from hiring aggressively…”
- Jobless picture soon to worsen, By Tamara Lush (AP), September 4, 2009, Modesto Bee: “More than 1.3 million Americans’ unemployment insurance benefits will run out by the end of the year, placing extra strain on an economy that is just starting to recover from the worst downturn in a generation. Of the nation’s 14.5 million jobless, those whose benefits are drying up – in some cases after a record 18 months of government support – are the most unfortunate. In California, the state Economic Development Department said as many as 170,000 of the unemployed it serves are at risk of losing their benefits…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty