US jobless rate up, housing starts fall
23-01-2009
The number of US workers lining up for jobless benefits surged last week and home-building slumped to a record low in December as the economy's downward spiral accelerated. Government data showed that the financial crisis since is forcing companies to slash jobs, creating a vicious cycle for an economy mired in a year-long recession. First-time applications for state jobless insurance aid rose to a seasonally adjusted 589,000 in the week ended January 17 from 527,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said. Housing starts plummeted 15.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 550,000 units, the lowest since records began in 1959, from an upwardly revised rate of 651,000 units in November, Commerce Department data showed.
