Unemployment

Jobless Streak Likely to Hit Record

19 months to top ‘80s recession.

The U.S. recession is likely to hit a record for longest streak of high unemployment, a report Friday is expected to show. November is likely to be the 19th consecutive month the unemployment rate has remained above 9 percent, passing the streak set during the 1980s recession. And it's not coming down any time soon: the Federal Reserve recently predicted that unemployment would stay above 9 percent through 2011 and might fall to around 8 percent by the end of 2012. The private sector has added about 112,000 jobs per month this year, but many economists predict that number will have to increase to over 200,000 to make a dent in the unemployment rate because many workers who stopped looking for jobs will resume their search once prospects improve.