August 10, 2009
Employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, suggesting that the economy’s road to recovery will be bumpy.
The Labor Department report, released Thursday, showed that even as the recession flashes signs of easing, companies likely will want to keep a lid on costs and be wary of hiring until they feel certain the economy is on a solid ground.
June’s payroll reductions were deeper than the 363,000 that economists expected.
However, the rise in the unemployment rate from 9.4 percent in May wasn’t as sharp as the expected 9.6 percent. Still, many economists predict the jobless rate will hit 10 percent this year, and keep rising into next year, before falling back.
All told, 14.7 million people were unemployed in June
August 10, 2009
The United States said on Thursday that the missile test-fires by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) are “not helpful” and are “dangerous.”
”North Korea knows exactly what it has to do … They need to cut out these kinds of provocative actions and return to denuclearization talks,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told a routine news briefing.
The DPRK fired four short-range missiles off its east coast early Thursday. The missiles, which appeared to be surface-to-ship ones, “were fired into the East Sea (Sea of Japan),” according to media reports from the Republic of Korea.
Describing the reports as “intelligence information,” Kelly said: “We can’t confirm the reports. But the reports are nothing new. We’ve seen them many times in the past.”
Hours before Kelly’s statement about the DPRK missile tests, a top American military commander said that the United States is ready to intercept any long-range missile from the DPRK.
