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Recession Watch

Unemployment Hits 26-Year High

"It's crazy," says Labor Dept. spokesman.

cheats/2008/12/24/unemployment-hits-26-year-high/jobs--1_ooyfqj

Mike Derer/AP

Unemployment has hit a 26-year high, the Labor Department reported on Christmas Eve. "First-time applications for state unemployment benefits jumped by 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 586,000 in the week ending Dec. 20," according to MarketWatch—a level not seen since November 1982. "This is a pretty clean number," a Labor Department spokesman said. Noting that layoffs have hit nearly every manufacturing sector, he added: "It's crazy." Consumer spending, meanwhile, slipped 0.6 percent year-to-year.

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