DAYTONA BEACH -- Are we going to climb out of this recession anytime soon? Not anytime soon, judging by local and national unemployment figures.
Though the national jobless rate dipped slightly from 9.4 percent in July from the 9.4 percent in June, according to Department of Labor Statistics reported by CNN with 247,000 net jobs lost, locally in Volusia and Flagler counties, July's jobless rate was 11.7 percent. That's almost double June's 6.8 percent and closer to May's 11.7 percent, according to Florida's Agency for Workforce Innovation.
FAST FACTS:
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# The economy shed 247,000 jobs in July, less than expected and lowest total of losses since last August. Unemployment rate inches down to 9.4%.
# The number of people unemployed for more than six months continued to rise, reaching nearly 5 million people, a record high. The average time that an unemployed person has been out of work reached 25.1 weeks, the highest reading in the 61 years that this has been tracked by the Labor Department.
# Since the start of 2008, 6.7 million jobs have been lost in the U.S. Several economists said that while the report confirms other economic readings suggesting that the recession may be ending, it's too soon to predict a sharp gain in jobs in the near term.
Source: CNNMoney.com (story posted on NSBNEWS.net Washington politics feed)