Jobless rate at 9.7 pct.; 216K jobs lost in Aug. - AP

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

The "recovery" that isn't.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090904/ap_on_bi_ge/us_economy

WASHINGTON – The unemployment rate jumped almost half a point to 9.7 percent in August, the highest since 1983, reflecting a poor job market that will make it hard for the economy to begin a sustained recovery.

While the jobless rate rose more than expected, the economy shed a net total of 216,000 jobs, less than July's revised 276,000 and the fewest monthly losses in a year, according to Labor Department data released Friday. Economists expected the unemployment rate to rise to 9.5 percent from July's 9.4 percent and job reductions to total 225,000.

By contrast, in a healthy economy, employers need to add a net total of around 125,000 jobs a month just to keep the unemployment rate stable.

If laid-off workers who have settled for part-time work or have given up looking for new jobs are included, the so-called underemployment rate reached 16.8 percent, the highest on records dating from 1994. That rate rose because the number of workers settling for part-time hours, either because their employer cut their work week or because that's all they could find, increased by about 300,000.

[wtbymark]

1. great interactive site to see where your state's rate is

http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=usunemployment&met=unemployment_rate&idim=state:ST320000&q=nevada+unemployment+rate

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. It certainly illustrates what is happening. Thanks.

[SoCalDem]

3. Another thing that skews these statistics, is this

worker loses $24 an hr good job with benefits

gets 3 part time $7 an hour "nothing" jobs

result 1 job "lost" .... 3 jobs "filled"..net "GAIN" of 2

but he's lost his benefits and is working harder, burning more gasoline & personal time..and making less :(

This is going on all over the place as full-time people are jettisoned, and end up scrambling to pick up odd-jobs here and there to stay alive