U.S. unemployment rate expected to remain high for years

The U.S. unemployment rate, which stood at 9.6 percent in August, could remain elevated for years to come although the U.S. economy will eventually rebound from the great recession, it was reported on Sunday.

The nation's job deficit is so deep that even a powerful recovery would leave large numbers of Americans out of work for years, The Los Angeles Times quoted experts as saying.

And with growth now weakening, analysts are doubtful that companies will boost payrolls significantly any time soon, the paper said.

"Unemployment, long considered a temporary, transitional condition in the United States, appears to be settling in for a lengthy run," the paper noted.

"This is the new reality," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody 's Analytics, was quoted as saying. "In the past decade we've gone from the best labor market in our economic history to arguably one of the worst. It's going to take years, if not decades, to completely recover from the fallout."

Major employers including automakers and building contractors were at the core of the meltdown this time around, and even when the economy picks up, these sectors won't quickly rehire all the workers they shed during the downturn, the paper said.

Besides, many small businesses, squeezed by tight credit and slow sales, similarly aren't in a hurry to add employees, and state and local governments are looking to ax more teachers, police officers and social workers to balance their budgets, said the paper.

Meanwhile, U.S. legislators have shown little appetite for a new round of stimulus spending, the paper added.

"It all points to a long slog for the nation's unemployed," the paper concluded.

Source: Xinhua