151,000 New Jobs but Unemployment Stuck in a Rut
The unemployment rate held steady with relatively few new jobs.
Nov. 5, 2010— -- Unemployment remained steady in October, despite a better-than-expected growth in the number of new jobs. The 9.6 percent U.S. jobless rate was unchanged for the second consecutive month, with the addition of 151,000 jobs, the Labor Department said today.
The 17 months leading to October's jobless rate marked the longest stretch of unemployment exceeding 9 percent since the Great Depression. The initial weekly jobless claims report showed an increase of 20,000, to 457,000, for the week ending Oct. 30.
President Barack Obama today called the latest U.S. unemployment figures "encouraging news"but admitted more work was needed to stimulate job growth.
The next likely speaker of the House, Republican Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, reacted to the report today by once again calling for an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts, although he conceded that the job gain was "a positive sign."
He also called on Congress to take up the issue when members return for the lame-duck session Nov. 15. "Stopping these tax hikes -- and cutting spending to pre-'stimulus,' pre-bailout levels -- would help eliminate the uncertainty gripping small businesses and show Americans asking, 'Where are the jobs?' that Washington is finally on the job," he said.
Meanwhile, Stephen Bronars, senior economist with Welch Consulting, said, "It appears with all the numbers together, including unemployment rate, hiring numbers, and unemployment claims, it's taking the unemployed a longer time to find work.
"The duration of unemployment is much longer in this recession."
The 159,000 new jobs in the private sector where offset slightly last month by the loss of 8,000 government jobs at all levels.
With today's data, the economy has added more than 1 million private sector jobs this year but lost a net of 7.6 million since the beginning of the recession in December 2007.
The wave of layoffs and hiring freezes across the country are visible in news headlines and reports, but it is tangible and real for the families of the unemployed.
In a national exit poll after Tuesday's election, 31 percent of voters said someone in their household has lost a job or been laid off in the last two years.
Bob Murdock's wife, Candace, was laid off from her teaching job in May, along with three other teachers near their home in Rome, Georgia. She has a doctoral degree, and is an award-winning middle school Spanish teacher. Yet despite submitting job applications in different school systems, she could not find a position for the current school year.
Murdock, 60, is a teacher in a neighboring county and shares the daily aggravations of his wife's job hunting.
"It's just frustrating because I can't go out and create a job for her. It has to come through the schools," said Murdock. "It's frustrating that, in addition to the lost income, she goes from all that achievement to basically nothing."
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