Unemployment exceeds 10% in the U.S.
A first since 1983 in the United States. The unemployment rate rose above 10% in October, to 10.2%, due to massive destruction of new posts. The U.S. economy has indeed lost 190,000 jobs over the period. Since the beginning of the recession, this brings to 7.3 million the number of jobs destroyed. Statistics released by the Labor Department are well below economists' expectations, which anticipated an unemployment rate close to 10% and job losses a little lower, around 175,000.
For the White House, these figures are "painful proof of the continued weakness in the labor market.President Obama will sign on Friday an extension of unemployment benefits for long-term unemployed.
The number of hours worked do not take off
Another vector for concern: the recovery is not yet so intense it would force companies to increase the number of hours worked. The latter remained taped to 33 hours weekly in October, hours worked throughout the economy has even declined 0.2%. For now, companies are content, therefore increasing the productivity of hours worked, as evidenced yesterday in the Labor Department. The only positive note in this sea of bad news, the number of job losses were revised down for September, with 219.000, against 263,000 originally announced.
If the trend over the last few months remains bonnne, with a decrease in job destruction, we are still far from the inflection point that the U.S. economy will create employment and reduce unemployment. Sign of the economic crisis in the United States: Another index, alternative at the official rate of unemployment that includes discouraged workers and those forced to work part time has increased to 17.5%. Either its highest rate since its 1995 record. The task of Barack Obama, elections before the 2010 interim, is therefore difficult. Like the Fed, which had warned Wednesday that weighed the risks still on the recovery. Forecasting the central bank of U.S. unemployment up to 10.1% in 2009 is indeed already expired …