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Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Unemployment Hits 9.5%

Unemployment hit 9.5 percent the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Thursday, after Americans lost 467,000 more jobs in June, contributing to the now 14.7 million unemployed Americans.

I think it's going to be at least another four, five, six months before unemployment begins to fall, Ron Haskins from the Brookings Institute said, adding that he wouldn't be surprised if it eventually hits ten percent.

"Nine point five is pretty darn high," remarked Tom McGettigan, a spokesman for the bureau.

The current rate is just a tenth of a percent greater than the 9.4 percent reported in May.

The trends are still not good, Haskins noted of the continuing job losses. But he did admit that the losses, as compared to the much steeper job losses earlier this year, are a good sign.

In June, white unemployment grew from 8.6 percent to 8.7 percent, but the unemployment rate of blacks and Hispanics actually fell. During the same period, black unemployment dropped from 14.9 to 14.7 percent, and that of Hispanics fell from 12.7 to 12.2 percent.

People without a high school degree maintained an unemployment rate of 15.5 percent in June, while the rate of those with a high school degree fell from 10 to 9.8 percent. The rate of people with some college was the only rate to climb, going from 7.7 to 8 percent. For those with at least a bachelor s degree, the rage fell slightly from 4.8 to 4.7 percent.

Haskins said there is no way to tell whether the Recovery Act is having a significant impact on the economy, dismissing claims by Republicans that the continuing losses prove its failure, as well as those from Democrats who say the act is buffering from harsher losses.

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