U.S. unemployment 10.2%, highest in 26 years

President Obama’s administration is looking for ways to speed up job growth and evaluate the $787 billion stimulus passed earlier this year.

“My economic team is looking at ideas such as additional investments in our aging roads and bridges, incentives to encourage families and businesses to make buildings more energy efficient, additional tax cuts to spur hiring, and more steps to ease the flow of credit to small business,” said Obama at the White House.

Obama said he wants to “build on” the measure he signed today “with further steps to grow our economy in the future”.

Unemployment “most important issue”
The most important issue facing the economy was “unemployment”, according to a recent CNN poll conducted between Oct. 30 and Nov. 1.

The 10.2 percent unemployment rate of October has increased from 9.8 percent in the last month. According to the latest Labor Department reports, employers cut 188,000 jobs last month.

In the previous three months, 357,000 jobs were lost in a month and in the six months from November 2008 to April 2009, 645,000 jobs were lost.

Every sector in the economy experienced the job cut. The service sector lost 61,000 jobs in all. Retail, health and education lost 40,000, 29,000 and 16,000 respectively. 65,000 jobs were cut in the manufacturing sector, while the department stores cut 11,000 jobs. Sporting goods, book, and music stores cut 16,000 jobs.

More job losses in the future
The Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida is forecasting huge job losses in the state at the end of this year. They say unemployment will hit 11.2 percent next year.

Economist Sean Snaith agrees by saying that state unemployment will remain above 10 percent till the first quarter of 2012.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that the administration expects the unemployment rate will get “a little worse before it gets better”.

Gibbs also said that President Obama is asking his economic advisers for various ideas that could create jobs more quickly.

The rate of job loss is still slow but job growth is expected to return by 2010.

“Although it will take time and will take patience, I’m confident that our economy will recover,” said Obama.