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January 26, 2009

600,000 File for Unemployment in a Week; Highest in 26 Years
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In other economic news, the number of Americans filing for first-time
unemployment benefits has risen to a twenty-six-year high. Nearly
600,000 people filed for jobless benefits during the second week of
January. The last time jobless claims were this high was in November
1982. The number of people collecting unemployment insurance has jumped
by nearly two million over the past year. In California, the nation’s
largest state, the unemployment rate has risen to 9.3 percent. Michigan
has the nation’s highest unemployment rate at 10.6 percent—the highest
it has been since 1984.



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