US unemployment hits 25-year high

Press TV
Friday, May 8, 2009

A US government report says the US economy lost 539,000 jobs in April, catapulting the unemployment rate to 8.9 percent — its highest point in a generation.

The Labor Department’s report on Friday signaled that the relentless pace of job losses was starting to level off slightly.

Estimates had projected the April job losses to rise to 590,000 against March which witnessed hemorrhages of 699,000 jobs.

(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)

Some economists say that the better-than-expected data hints that the recession is bottoming out and economic activities are expected to gradually recover toward the end of the year, Reuters reported.

“It’s a confirmation that we’re in the early stages of a turn,” the New York Times quoted Ethan Harris, co-head of United States economic research at Barclays Capital, as saying.

Full story here.

Print this page.

Comment Rules

Comments are closed.