Job Data cloud Recovery

[Fly Rod]

Jobs Data Cloud Recovery
By CONOR DOUGHERTY

Employers cut another 263,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate rose to a 26-year high of 9.8%, raising worries that the persistently weak labor market could undermine a nascent economic recovery from the worst U.S. recession since the Great Depression.

The economy, by most accounts, has begun to grow again. But Friday's Labor Department report underscored the risk that without jobs, consumers won't have income to spend and that will restrain growth and give employers little reason to resume hiring after 21 consecutive months of job losses.

The bleak report comes amid continuing talks between the White House and Congress on extending of some parts of the stimulus package enacted in February, such as unemployment benefits and health-insurance subsidies.

"The pace of the recovery is likely to slow," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist for research firm IHS Global Insight. "Ultimately, if we don't get job growth, we're not going to get sustained growth in consumer spending. How could we get a really strong recovery without consumers?"

With the economy propped up by government spending on programs such as "cash for clunkers," economists worry the fragile recovery will fizzle if employers don't soon begin hiring. Programs such as extensions of unemployment benefits to the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers have helped stabilize the housing market and construction spending. Manufacturing output has begun to rebound as companies look to rebuild inventories, while companies have used productivity gains to regain profits.

But hiring hasn't followed.

The number of unemployed -- officially at 15.1 million -- is greater than the population of all but four states. The proportion of people who have been searching for work for longer than half a year rose to 35.6% of the unemployed, from a third of the work force in August. The dismal state of the job market led to a decline of 571,000 in the labor force, a sign that discouraged workers have given up looking for work entirely.

Investors signaled concern that the economy isn't recovering as steadily as many had hoped. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 21 points, or 0.2%, to 9487.67.

A separate report Friday showed more disappointing news: Factory orders fell 0.8% in August from a month earlier, after four months of increases.