US unemployment rate rises to 7.9%

A new report released by the US Labor Department shows an increase in the country’s unemployment rate, especially in the transportation and warehousing sectors.

 The department said on Friday that the unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent in January 2013, from 7.8 percent in December 2012.

Jim O'Sullivan of economics consultancy High Frequency Economics said, "The rise in the unemployment rate was a disappointment".

New figures released by the official Bureau of Economic Analysis, revealed that the US economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the last quarter of 2012, reportedly the worst three months in as many years for the country.

The US Federal Reserve has also stated in a separate assessment that economic activity in the nation had “paused”‌ in recent months.

This is while major government spending cuts are due to become effective in a month, on March 1.

Source: irib.ir