US banker sees 10% jobless rate
A top US central banker has said that the unemployment rate in the
country could jump above 10% this year.
Richard Fisher, a member of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate setting
committee, said the central bank would use "every tool" to fix the
economy.
The jobless rate rose to 8.5% in March, while 5.1 million jobs have been
lost since the US recession began in December 2007.
A US unemployment rate of 10% would be the highest since June 1983.
'Mess'
The total number of unemployed people stood at 13.2 million in March,
according to figures from the Department of Labor last week.
"Our economy faces a tough road. We are the central bank of the largest
economy in the world, and we are duty bound to apply every tool we can
to clean up the mess that our financial system," Mr Fisher said in
Tokyo.
"I expect the unemployment rate to continue rising to a level that could
surpass 10 percent by year-end," he added.
The Fed has cut rates to a record low and begun a policy of so-called
quantitative easing, where it buys up government debt to push the cost
of borrowing down and get businesses and consumers spending again.
The minutes of the Fed's March meeting will be released on Wednesday.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.
Published: 2009/04/08 08:49:59 GMT
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
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