Jobless Figures Add to US Economic Gloom

By Jim Malone

Washington
06 March 2009


Crowds wait to apply for jobs outside the New York Department of Labor in the Bronx in New York, 06 Mar 2009

The U.S. economic gloom deepened Friday with word that the jobless rate soared to 8.1 percent last month, the highest level in 25 years.  

A cartoonist recently laid-off from the Seattle Times stands with his family and packed moving boxes in Kenmore, Wash, (file photo)

"Pay cut, less medical benefits, loss of my vacation and loss of my severance package when I get laid off here," he said.

Pres. Obama greets people in the crowd after Police Graduation Exercises in Columbus, Ohio, 06 Mar 2009

Mr. Obama told an audience in Ohio Friday that the job losses underscore the importance of his economic stimulus package, which he signed into law last month.