On Friday the Labor Department released the number of jobs lost in September. Altogether, 95,000 jobs were lost, all from government cuts. 159,000 local government and census workers lost their jobs, while the private sector added 64,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remains at 9.6%. Estimates to jeep the unemployment rate flat say that companies need to hire around 150,000 workers a month, but most do not see that happening before the end of the year. A broader measure of unemployment, which includes those working part-time because they cannot find a full-time job and those who have given up looking rose from 16.7% to 17.1%.
See "Government Cuts Led U.S. to Lose 95,000 Jobs in Month", Catherine Rampell, The New York Times, October 7, 2010