Geithner warns of high unemployment throughout year
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday warned jobless Americans they face a torrid year ahead, predicting continued high unemployment levels despite advances "sometime this spring."
In testimony prepared for Congress, Geithner said some improvement in the decimated US job market would come soon, but it would not be enough to eat into near double-digit unemployment levels.
In a statement co-authored by top White House economic aides, Geithner warned more than 100,000 jobs would have to be created each month to push the jobless rate down from its current level of 9.7 percent.
"We do not expect substantial further declines in unemployment this year," he warned.
An estimated 8.4 million Americans have lost their jobs since the recession began in late 2007, with 750,000 jobs being shed each month in the first months of 2009.
Unemployment has spread throughout the country -- well beyond the already depressed industrial heartlands -- hitting everything from consumer spending to bank lending.
While most indicators point to a modest economic recovery already underway, many Americans fear the recovery may be jobless.
Copyright 2010 AFP American Edition
