WASHINGTON — The most rampant layoffs of teachers and other local government workers in nearly three decades more than offset weak hiring in the private sector in September, resulting in a net loss of 95,000 jobs. Unemployment remained stuck at 9.6 percent.
The persistent jobs crisis makes it all but certain the Federal Reserve will act at its Nov. 2-3 meeting to try to rejuvenate the economy. The Fed likely will buy billions more in government debt to further drive down rates on mortgages, corporate loans and other debt. The idea is that even cheaper loans might get Americans to increase spending and boost the economy.
That prospect lifted stocks on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 11,000 for the first time since May. It finished up nearly 58 points to 11,006.
The jobless rate has now been at or above 9.5 percent for 14 consecutive months, the longest stretch since the Great Depression.
“We have to keep doing everything we can to accelerate this recovery,” President Barack Obama said. “The only piece of economic news that folks still looking for work want to hear is, ‘You’re hired.’ And everything we do is dedicated to make that happen.”
In all, the economy shed 159,000 jobs in the public sector, including 76,000 at the local level, most of them teachers. It was the largest cut by local governments in 28 years.
One reason the spike is showing up now is that teachers who were notified of their layoffs when school ended in spring fell off the payrolls in September.
Without any big rise in sales, companies are not adding jobs fast enough to make up for the losses. Private businesses added only 64,000 positions last month, only about half what it takes to keep up with the growing workforce.
There are now 14.8 million people officially unemployed in the United States, and even that figure doesn’t capture the suffering. People out of work who have stopped looking for jobs are not counted as unemployed.
Adding people who are working part time but would prefer full-time jobs, nearly 27 million are “underemployed” — 17.1 percent of U.S. adults, up from 16.7 percent in August and close to a record.
