According to an article in the Dallas Morning News, the unemployment rate has surpassed 10 percent for the first time since 1983.
The article said:
“The Labor Department said Friday that jobless rate rose to 10.2 percent, the highest since April 1983, from 9.8 percent in September. The economy shed a net total of 190,000 jobs in October, less than the downwardly revised 219,000 lost in September, but more than economists expected.”
Despite many economists’ claims that the recession is ending, nearly 16 million Americans are unemployed and cannot find work. According to statistics, 35 percent of unemployed workers have been out of work of at least six months. And many who have found work are working for a significantly lower wage or even part-time. If the unemployed Americans who have settled for part-time work or given up looking are included in our tally, the real unemployment rate is well above 17 percent. Before the recession began, unemployment was a measly 4.9 percent. Millions of job losses and employer cutbacks have taken us to where we are now. And despite the claims that the recession is over, employers have given no indication that they intend to increase hiring to a level that could absorb millions of unemployed Americans.