Unemployment, Jobless | featured news

New claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a fresh four-year low last week, according to a government report on Thursday that offered evidence the jobs market recovery was gaining traction.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in nine months, evidence that the job market is improving.

Republican officials say legislation being drafted in the House would renew an expiring program of unemployment benefits at a time of 9 percent joblessness. The measure also would extend a Social Security payroll tax cut. Both are due to expire at the end of the year. The officials say the cost of provisions will be offset to avoid increasing the deficit.

The jobs crisis has left so many people out of work for so long that most of America's unemployed are no longer receiving unemployment benefits....

Call it the recession's lost generation. In record numbers, they're struggling to find work, shunning long-distance moves to live with mom and dad, delaying marriage and raising kids out of wedlock, if they're becoming parents at all. The unemployment rate for them is the highest since World War II, and they risk living in poverty more than others - nearly 1 in 5.

Unemployment rates rose in more than half of U.S. states in June, evidence that slower hiring is affecting many parts of the country.

New claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, a government report showed on Thursday, pointing to a labor market that is struggling to regain momentum after job growth faltered in the last two months.

Programs already plagued by delays and poor participation were not designed to fully address unemployment, now the primary cause of foreclosures.

More people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the first increase in three weeks and evidence that the job market is still sluggish.

Fueling the demonstrators’ anger is the perceived failure by politicians to alleviate the hardships imposed on a struggling population by a jobless rate of 21 percent.