Labor Department offers consolation after unemployment soars

03.08.09
By Lewis Green

Americans worrying about a lingering recession received more bad news on Friday when the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced updated employment figures.

According to the BLS, 651,000 jobs were lost in February and the unemployment rate crept higher to 8.1 percent from 7.6 percent in January.

Although both adult men and women were affected by the latest job cuts, the unemployment rate for males reached 8.1 percent while the rate for women was 6.7 percent. Both figures were up over the last month.

Given the magnitude of this figure and similar information from previous months, a statement from the secretary of labor reminded Americans how these jobs loss figures touched everyone.

"This data does not just represent abstract statistics. Rather it illustrates the struggles of millions of Americans who do not know how they will raise their families, or pay their bills and mortgages," said secretary Hilda Solis.

She reiterated the administration's intentions to help restart the economy and ultimately create jobs.

Solis said that steps have already been taken to increase unemployment insurance benefits and to prolong the duration of unemployment insurance, adding that the Department of Labor is offering $3.5 billion in funding to states for training and reemployment initiatives.

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Consumers struggle to pay bills, mortgages as unemployment rises