Jobless claims jump to 16-year high.»

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/20/jobless-claims-2/

Jobless claims jump to 16-year high.»

New claims for unemployment jumped unexpectedly to a 16-year high last week, the Labor Department reported, with 542,000 new claims for jobless benefits being filed. “Claims above 400,000 are generally considered a sign of recession, and claims have been above that level for 17 weeks,” the AP reports, adding that last year, “claims stood at about 320,000.” The number of people continuing to claim unemployment insurance is expected to reach 3.9 million, its highest level in 25 years.

Update: Bob Geiger reports, "The United States Senate will vote this week -- and very likely today -- on a bill that will extend unemployment insurance benefits by seven weeks for the jobless whose benefits have run out and a total of 13 weeks for those in states with an unemployment rate higher than six percent."

[bdamomma]

1. such bad news.

:-(