Jobless Claims Reach 8.9%

author Published by Chris Chmielenski

Jobless claims in April continued to worsen with 539,000 more jobs cut during the month. The U.S. unemployment rate is now at 8.9 percent up from 8.5% last month with 13.7 million Americans looking for work.

April’s job cuts were down from the first four months of the year, but experts are cautious saying the federal government has begun hiring for next year’s census and the economic stimulus money has had an impact. But private companies continue to show little confidence in the economy and are reducing hours at a record pace while continuing to cut jobs.

Factoring in the Americans who recently gave up their employment search or have been forced into part-time work, the unemployment rate sits at 15.8%.

The jobless numbers first reported for February and March have also worsened. Both month’s had 30,000 more jobs cut than originally reported.

With Chrysler’s bankruptcy announcement last week, it’s no surprise that Michigan saw the largest increase in jobless claims. Nearly 10,000 jobs were cut in April. Massachusetts, Kentucky, North Carolina and New York also saw significant job cuts.

More job cuts are on the way with General Motors and Microsoft among the companies announcing new layoffs. Still, the federal government continues to import 138,000 foreign workers every month. 

 

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