The US Department of Labor has reported that the number of people filing for unemployment benefits has risen by 27,000 for the week that ended on Nov. 15, for a total of 542,000. This is the third time since 1992 that claims has risen above 500,000. The claims are the highest since July 25, 1992, when the number of unemployed seeking benefits totaled 564,000 people. The Senate approved a bill to extend benefits to the unemployed. This includes a seven-week extension in most states and an additional 13-weeks in states with a 6% or higher unemployment rate. Most states only offer unemployment benefits for 26 weeks. President Bush, who threatened to veto the bill earlier, now agreed to sign it. Economists say that this recession is worse the employment rate is worse than the previous recessions for 1991 and 2000. The number of people that are collecting benefits for at least a week has soared by 109,000 to 4,012,000 for the week ending Nov. 8. The last time unemployment has been this high was in 1982. Jobs have been cut for months. The Dept. of Labor reported 240,000 jobs were lost in October, which made the total number of jobs lost in 2008 to 1.2 million. The unemployment rate has risen to 6.5%, a 14-year high.
I don't think enough is being done to stimulate the economy. This will probably come right after the Great Depression in a list of bad recessions. In the 1930s, Roosevelt created many jobs with government sponsored projects, such as building highways, parks, and the such. Something similar should be done now. Jobs rates will only continue to rise throughout this recession. The government needs to step up and help its people. Jobs cannot create themselves, someone has to go make them. In this time of need, where most corporations and small businesses are cutting back by cutting jobs, only the government has the resources to create new jobs.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/20/news/economy/jobless_claims/index.htm?postversion=2008112008
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