Unemployment Closing in on Nine Percent

From Reuters:

U.S. employers cut 539,000 jobs last month, the fewest since October, according to government data on Friday that signaled the economy's steep decline may be easing.

The unemployment rate, however, soared to 8.9 percent, the highest since September 1983, from 8.5 percent in March and job losses in March and February were a combined 66,000 steeper than previously estimated, the Labor Department said.

Unemployment in rates in New Hampshire continue to trail the national number, however, as you can see in the below graph, they have spiked slightly over the last few months. New Hampshire’s employment numbers for April are scheduled for release on May 18.