Last month, the United States’ unemployment rate was 9.8%, the newest figures show that the unemployment rate has increased to 10.2% and it is the highest it has been since April of 1983. Official figures show that the country lost 190,000 jobs with the majority of the losses coming from construction, retail, and manufacturing.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that there are 15.7 million unemployed people in the country, which is up over half a million from the previous month. The number is up 8.2 million from the time the recession officially began in December 2007.

The number of people who are long-term unemployed (those who have been unemployed for at least 27 weeks) has remained pretty steady. There were 5.6 million long term unemployed people in October; meaning that 35.6% of those who are unemployed have been unemployed for at least 27 weeks.

According to the New York Times, the “underemployment” rate (part-time workers and people who have given up the job hunt altogether) is at 17.5%.

Of course this is more bad news, but it is right on track with what analysts were thinking. After all, they did say that unemployment would hit 10% by the end of the year.

There are fields that aren’t doing so badly; the health care profession has added over half a million jobs since the beginning of the recession.

Perhaps with the holiday season, some of the merchants will be hiring at least temporary workers. While temporary work isn’t the most ideal for a lot of workers, it is something that will help pay the bills for those who are cash-strapped right now.

Good news came out today about unemployment. In June, unemployment reached 9.5% and the numbers for July came out and unemployment actually fell to 9.4%. While the decrease isn’t much, it does mean that less jobs are being cut than before and people are actually finding work.

Some analysts were predicting the unemployment rate to go up to 9.6%, which is a slower increase than before, but they weren’t expecting a decrease like we have seen.

This good news may be a bit deceiving though. The workforce in July fell by 422,000 positions. That number is higher than the 155,000 losses in June. This difference in numbers would suggest that some of those out there are simply giving up the search for work altogether. If this is the case, then they wouldn’t be included in the unemployment figure because the unemployment percentage only includes those who are actively seeking employment but are unable to find it.

However, some sectors are showing promising signs of improvement. Take manufacturing for example. In July, 52,000 manufacturing jobs were lost. This is the first time since September 2008 where job losses in this sector were under 100,000.

In July, average hourly earnings also increase from $18.53 in June, to $18.56 an hour.

Overall, this news is promising. I am looking forward to seeing how things turn out in the long run. I am anxious to see how the government will operate when it is out of the recession. The current administration has only had to deal with bad economic news, and I am really looking forward to seeing how things will be handled when there’s no crisis to handle in the financial system.

It looks like repaying student loans could be getting a bit easier. Beginning this week, those with federal student loans can apply for a program that is offered by the Department of Education that reduces or caps the monthly payments based on income and also forgives any remaining balances after 25 years.

There is a calculator at http://www.ibrinfo.org to help any borrowers determine if they are eligible for the plan.

The program comes from the Cost Reduction and Access Act signed into law in 2007 from the Education Department. The Act authorized the creation of the repayment plan for Federal Family Education Loans and Direct Loan borrowers for those who borrow Stafford and PLUS loans.

So, the Act makes monthly payment amount to less than 10% of income for the 1 million people that are expected to enroll in the program. Payments wouldn’t exceed 15% of any income above $16K a year. Those who earn less than $16K would not have to make monthly payments.

This is a great program for those graduating colleges now simply because it has become harder and harder for new graduates to afford their loans after the deferment period for their loans. As of right now, no matter what, the new graduate has to begin paying back their loans after the deferment period, even if they haven’t had any luck finding a job. So this Act will help those.

With the unemployment rates at the highs it is now and new graduates graduating college with more debt than ever this could really help some people out. If I am unable to find a job, I know that it will definitely help me out.

After I finish this post up, I’m headed over to that website listed above to check my eligibility. I only have one private loan for less than $1,500 and the rest of my loans were Federal Stafford loans (mainly subsidized).