Unemployment in the US has jumped to its highest level since 1983 after employers cut 663,000 jobs and workers' hours to the lowest on record, government figures have shown.
The US Labor Department reported the rate leaped to 8.5 per cent in March and revised its figures for January to show job losses of 741,000, the biggest decline since October 1949. The economy has shed 5.1 million jobs since the US went into recession in December 2007, with about two thirds of the losses occurring in the last five months, the department said on Friday. Many experts have said the recession is the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. The average working week shrank to 33.2 hours from 33.3 hours, which analysts have said could mean lower production and income, damaging the economy further. Barack Obama, the US president, said the figures were a "stark reminder'' of US economic woes. "Obviously, this is hitting the United States hard," Obama said as he addressed the global economic downturn during a joint press conference with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, ahead of a Nato summit there. Despite the news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday closed higher on Friday, climbing 39.51 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 8,017.59 points, its highest close since February 9, following optimism on agreements forged at the G20 summit this week. Al Jazeera's John Terrett in New York said that despite the poor unemployment data there was a feeling on the markets that the US economy was showing signs of a turnaround after better than expected auto sales and factory order figures. *Food stamps* A record 32.2 million people, one-in-10 Americans, are now receiving food stamps - the major US government programme used to combat hunger and help the poor buy food - the government said a day earlier. The average benefit was $112.82 per person in January. "A weakened economy means that many more individuals are turning to SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program]/Food Stamps," said the Food Research and Action Center, an anti-hunger group. The stamp benefits are set to rise by 13 per cent this month temporarily, under an economic stimulus law signed by Barack Obama, the US president - an increase of $80-a-month for a household of four. Ref: Aljazeera news http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/04/2009431412918327.html is it result of crusades? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Asalam o Alaikum, You Are Receiving This Message, Because You Are A Member Of FOCUS ON ISLAM, A Google Group [..:: The Best Group For Nice Islamic Mails ::..] \/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<>\/ You can Post Your Comments and Suggestions to Me [Moderator of this Group] on this email address: [email protected] To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/focusonislam/ To post messages/mails to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] Please forward our Mails to Your friends, and convence them to join our Group. Wanna subscribe to this group, send email to [email protected] \/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<>\/ *********************************************************** The Official Website of Group is LAUNCHED, http://www.geocities.co -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
