Power Point: Progress comes in fits and starts

“Progress comes in fits and starts and we’re going to need to grind out this recovery.”

–President Obama, responding to today’s dismal jobs report that showed much greater losses than expected. The reported net loss of 263,000 jobs for September was up from 201,000 in August, and the unemployment rate of 9.8% hit another 26-year high. “I’ve made the point that employment is often the last thing to come back after a recession, and that’s what history shows us,” the President said. “But our task is to do everything we can possibly do to accelerate that process.”

Meanwhile, the teen unemployment rate hit a record high 25.9%, with young minority workers disproportionately affected. At 37%, the rate of unemployed African American teens is four times the national average. “The full effects of that lost opportunity will be felt for years to come,” says Kristen Lopez Eastlick, Senior Research Analyst for the Employment Policies Institute. –Jessica Shambora