20 million-plus collect unemployment checks in '09

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON – A record 20 million-plus people collected unemployment benefits at some point in 2009, a year that ended with the jobless rate at 10 percent.

As the pace of layoffs slows, the number of new applicants visiting unemployment offices has been on the decline in recent months. But limited hiring means the ranks of the long-term unemployed continues to grow, with more than 5.8 million people out of work for more than six months.

The number of new claims for jobless benefits dropped last week to 432,000, the Labor Department said Thursday, down sharply from its late March peak of 674,000. The decline signals that the economy could begin adding a small number of jobs in January, several economists said.

Still, hiring is unlikely to be strong enough to quickly bring down the unemployment rate, which fell from 10.2 percent in October to 10 percent in November. December's rate will be announced Jan. 8.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091231/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_economy;_ylt=AmAcdHSluKjpyOJ8dzUATeHv5rEF;_

Here's hoping things are different for both of us soon.

:)

from the corporatists to the citizens of this country.