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Americans on Unemployment at All-time High, New Claims at 627,000

by Tina Kells | February 19, 2009 at 10:22 am

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The January figures are in and the numbers are much worse than expected. 627,000 new jobless claims were filed in January 2009 making it the worst month ever recorded in US history. The number of Americans collecting regular unemployment benefits is now at an all-time high.

When you combine the nearly 5 million people collecting regular unemployment in the US with the 1.5 million now eligible under newly enacted extension measures, the number of people on assistance is a staggering 6.54 million.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of people receiving regular unemployment benefits rose 170,000 to 4.99 million for the week ending Feb. 7, marking the fourth straight week those receiving benefits have been at a record level on data going back to 1967.

The continuing claims figure also was significantly above the year-ago level of 2.77 million and underscored the difficulty people are having in this recession finding another job once they are laid off.

An additional 1.5 million people are receiving benefits under an extended unemployment compensation program approved by Congress last year, bringing the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits to 6.54 million for the week ending Feb. 7.

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antinsa

at 11:43 on February 19th, 2009

I am happy to help provide images for this piece for non-profit use only. If there is any profit which results, the please share the wealth, as these are the images which feed my children.

Best Regards,

Robert P. Eaton Jr.

www.thelifephotography.com