Initial jobless claims rise

10.02.09
By Nicholas Storie

Although some experts have been pointing to an improvement in the nation's job market, new figures from the federal government show that times will still be tough for those with rising credit card debt that are still looking for work.

In its weekly release on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that initial jobless claims increased more than expected for the week ending September 17. In a Thomson Reuters survey, experts predicted that jobless claims would reach 535,000 - up slightly from the previous week's revised figures of 534,000.

But instead of a 1,000-claim increase, the numbers released this week show jobless claims rose to 17,000 claims to 551,000.

Sal Guatieri, a senior economic at BMO Capital Markets, says the weak figures show that it will take longer for the nation to recover from the recession than many experts have predicted.

"The economy is on track for a jobless recovery, and unemployment will likely remain high well into next year," he told Bloomberg. "We're just not seeing a pickup in hiring. It means a long road to full recovery."

The federal numbers come just a day after an ADP report found that 245,000 jobs were lost in September. Although a significant drop, the ADP noted that it was the smallest decline in job losses since July 2008 and reported that the last two quarters have seen a job losses diminish.

Although there have been some small signs of growth for the nation's economy, the job market has been slow to get on track. A number of experts, including those in the White House, have predicted that the unemployment rate - which currently stands at 9.7 percent - will top 10 percent before it starts to fall.

The September unemployment rate will be released Friday.

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Unemployment in the U.S. continues to rise