Richard Tafoya
Nov 20th, 2008, 08:01 AM
AP:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/11/fed_sees_economic_woes_persist.php
Pounded by a fierce financial crisis, the country is sinking deeper into economic despair that has pushed the number of newly laid-off workers to a 16-year high, with problems likely to stretch well into next year.
With economic troubles cutting into customers' appetites, cost-cutting businesses dropped the ax harder.
New claims filed for unemployment insurance zoomed last week to 542,000, the highest since the summer of 1992, when the nation was recovering from a recession, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The latest news on the crucial jobs market was worse than analysts expected. They had forecast a small decline in claims.
Meanwhile, the number of people continuing to draw jobless benefits climbed to more than 4 million, the highest in just over a quarter-century. Those figures partly reflect growth in the labor force, which has increased by about half since the early 1980s, but nonetheless underscore the difficulties of people trying to find work.
The grim news follows a gloomy outlook from the Federal Reserve and diminishing hope that Congress can secure a fresh $25 billion rescue package for the tottering U.S. auto industry before lawmakers quit for the year.
Despite a flurry of bold government actions, including $700 billion financial bailout package now being rolled out by the Treasury Department, financial and economic problems rage on.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/11/fed_sees_economic_woes_persist.php
Pounded by a fierce financial crisis, the country is sinking deeper into economic despair that has pushed the number of newly laid-off workers to a 16-year high, with problems likely to stretch well into next year.
With economic troubles cutting into customers' appetites, cost-cutting businesses dropped the ax harder.
New claims filed for unemployment insurance zoomed last week to 542,000, the highest since the summer of 1992, when the nation was recovering from a recession, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The latest news on the crucial jobs market was worse than analysts expected. They had forecast a small decline in claims.
Meanwhile, the number of people continuing to draw jobless benefits climbed to more than 4 million, the highest in just over a quarter-century. Those figures partly reflect growth in the labor force, which has increased by about half since the early 1980s, but nonetheless underscore the difficulties of people trying to find work.
The grim news follows a gloomy outlook from the Federal Reserve and diminishing hope that Congress can secure a fresh $25 billion rescue package for the tottering U.S. auto industry before lawmakers quit for the year.
Despite a flurry of bold government actions, including $700 billion financial bailout package now being rolled out by the Treasury Department, financial and economic problems rage on.