Sun, Jan 06, 2008 - Page 11 News List

Jobless rate may signal recession

LAGGING SIGNAL With a US jobless rate of 5 percent in December, economists say this may be the first sign of a pending recession despite gains in payrolls and spending

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"It's not a good situation," said Chris Rupkey, senior financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd in New York. "It is certainly true that every time the unemployment rate has done what it did today, we are in a recession."

Still, "I don't want to forecast a recession," he said. "I would prefer the National Bureau of Economic Research to call it a recession."

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