United States jobless rate sets a record, again

POLITICS - Today the U.S. Labour Department reported that first-time requests for unemployment insurance rose to 654,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised figure of 645,000, above analysts' expectations.

The number of people receiving benefits for more than a week increased by 193,000 to 5.3 million, the most on records dating back to 1967. That's the sixth time in the past seven weeks that the jobless claims rolls in the United States have set a record high.

The unemployment insurance rolls have risen sharply from a year ago, when only 2.8 million people were receiving benefits. As a proportion of the work force, the tally of Americans receiving unemployment benefits is the highest since June 1983, the department said, when the economy was recovering from a steep recession.

Some economists say the unemployment rate could spike to 10% by the end of this year, from its current level of 8.1%. Other economists state the American recession could end by Autumn 2009, once stimulus spending gets rolling.