Jay Rockefeller: “despite some signs of an improving economy, for hard-working Americans, it is, unfortunately, a ``jobless recovery.''…”

“despite some signs of an improving economy, for hard-working Americans, it is, unfortunately, a ``jobless recovery.'' While we see some positive economic indicators, the unemployment rate continues to rise and shows few signs of falling. For working Americans, that is bad news. Too many people are finding themselves without a job, and without a source of income. The Labor Department reports that over the past few months, the unemployment rate has hovered around 6 percent, with 8.4 million people officially counted as unemployed. My home State of West Virginia reported an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent in June, which is only somewhat higher than the national average, but some of our counties are struggling with unemployment rates in the double digits. Not only are more people being laid off, they are also remaining unemployed for longer. From January to May 2002, the proportion of unemployed workers who were still looking for work after 27 weeks increased by 41 percent, and unemployment levels now exceed those reached in any recent recession. Workers are suffering unemployment for longer periods, and are losing benefits before they can find new jobs. In January 2002, a total of 373,000 workers exhausted their benefits, a sizeable 11 percent increase from the same time last year.”