The nation’s unemployment rate has surged to 9.4 percent, the highest it has been since 1983. 345,000 jobs were lost during the month of May. The current unemployment rate would jump to 16.8 percent if it included laid-off workers who have given up looking for new jobs or have had to settle for part-time work. The latest government statistics also reveal the nation’s long-term unemployment rate is at the highest it’s been since the government began keeping records in 1948. 4.5 percent of the work force has been out of work for fifteen weeks or more.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis: “I would say to you that the number, in terms of unemployment rate, is still very, very high and not acceptable. We know that we have to do much, much more to put American workers back to work. We have seen some leveling off in comparison to the last few months, that we do see jobs that aren’t being lost as quickly, but I think that’s just — that’s going to happen between now and, I think, the next few months.”