Jobless Rates Drop in Almost All U.S. States

The Labor Department reports unemployment rates fell in 42 states.

Jobless rates ended 2012 lower than where they began, according to the Labor Department. The labor department previously announced a 5-year low in unemployment applications, largely attributing it to seasonality. The most recently released data show that, from December 2011, 42 states and the District of Columbia registered unemployment rate decreases from December from a year earlier.

The trend is expected to carry over into 2013, with Standard & Poor’s saying it expects “total nonfarm employment growth to rise 1.6 percent in 2013,” in the eastern Atlantic region due to tourism. (Reuters)

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96K Jobs Added, Unemployment Edges Down to 8.1

The economy and black employment are stalled

The August jobs report is out and it shows employers added 96,000 jobs last month, according to just released figures from the Labor Department. The number was far less than the forecasted (and hoped for) 125,000 number. In some good news, the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July, but that ticking down of the rate camse as more people ended their job searches. The government only counts people as unemployed if they are actively searching.The unemployment rates for blacks and Hispanics remained virtually unchanged at 14.1 for blacks and 10.2 percent for Hispanics. The decidedly mixed jobs report comes just a day after President Barack Obama accepted his party's nomination for president. (Labor Department)