From the ArcaMax Publishing, News & Features Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/newsheadlines/s-574840-821176
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The U.S. unemployment rate will climb to at least
10 percent "in the next two to three months," a White House spokesman
said Thursday.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs -- speaking hours after the
government reported the economy lost 467,000 last month and the
unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent -- said the administration is
confident the economic recovery plan will work and he called income
growth a hopeful sign. But he said job losses will continue.
"In the next two to three months, I think, it's quite clear that we'll
hit that number … We're definitely headed toward 10 percent," he
said.
Gibbs noted the economy must create about 150,000 jobs a month just to
retain the same unemployment rate. He said the average monthly job
loss had dropped to 436,000 for the most recent quarter, compared with
nearly 700,000 for the one immediately preceding it.
"There is a sense that the beginnings of stabilization are taking
hold," Gibbs said.
He said 1,900 construction projects are in progress as a result of the
recovery plan.
The White House, he said, will keep a close watch on the California
budget crisis and on other states struggling with the economic
downturn. Gibbs confirmed California had sought emergency aid from the
U.S. Treasury Department and said the administration would consider
proposals from other states.
He said about $144 billion in federal healthcare and education funding
is already going directly to states.
"But obviously, each of these states, like is happening at kitchen
tables across the country and in Washington, we're all going to have
to make some very, very tough choices," Gibbs said.