Unemployment climbs to 5-year high of 6.1 percent
The latest employment snapshot was worse than economists were forecasting. They were expecting payrolls to drop by around 75,000 in August and the jobless rate to tick up a notch, to 5.8 percent.
The White House was disappointed, too.
"There is no question that the labor market is not as strong as we'd like," said press secretary Dana Perino. "We want to see the economy return to job growth, and we understand that this is a difficult time for many Americans. We want everyone who wants to work to be able to find a job."
Wages went up modestly last month, but prices have been rising faster. Average hourly earning rose to $18.14, up 3.6 percent from last year. High food and fuel costs mean paychecks aren't stretching as far, though.
A separate report showed a record 9.2 percent of American homeowners with a mortgage were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of June, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The Fed, which is struggling to curb inflation and improve growth, is expected to leave a key interest rate alone at 2 percent when it meets Sept. 16.
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Member Comments
Posted By: ceanf9 @ 08/28/2008 3:36:27 PM
Comment: please, do tell me how bush is a dictator when he was voted into office. do you even understand how our government is structured? perhaps you were sleeping through your high school government class. yes yes we all understand that you don't like bush and think he is the devil, but the government consists of much more than just the president. the problem lies with all the useless, greedy, corrupt politicians. and it is the government as whole that is responsible for the problems we have today (which really arn't all that bad) please, do us all a favor and think before you post next time.
Posted By: Bowles2323 @ 08/28/2008 2:57:04 PM
Comment: Hmmm.....GDP growth at 3.3% while inflation grew 4.2% over the same period. Doesn't sound like growth to me. But they gotta get the stock market to move up at any cost, even if it means putting out numbers that are not the real picture.
Posted By: Young Hickory @ 08/19/2008 2:25:38 PM
Comment: Hey Dems, let's milk the tragedy of the Bush presidency like Republicans done with president Carter over the last 30 years. One hundred years from now some jerk will still be trying to invoke Carter as a reason to not vote Democratic. The real ghosts that still haunt us are those Nixon holdovers like Rumsfeld and Cheney who continue to mess us up.