Foreign-Worker Arrivals Continue as Jobless Claims Rise to 26-Year High

The United States will import another 140,000 foreign workers this month despite worsening jobless numbers. Initial jobless claims were at 586,000 last week, which is 30,000 more than the prior week’s claims. The number was the highest since November 1982, and the four-week moving claims average is also at its highest level since 1982. The nation’s counterproductive immigration policies make the situation even harder to fix.

With the new numbers, job losses for the year are expected to exceed two million. In anticipation of these numbers, President-elect Barack Obama expanded his economic stimulus plan last week to call for the creation of three million jobs.

Since the start of 2008, the weekly initial claims level has increased by more than 200,000.

More on this story can be found at Bloomberg.com.