Jobless Benefit Numbers Hit Record

Did you know that the number of people receiving unemployment benefits has reached the highest level on records that go back more than 40 years. Now that is scary indeed. The Government said Thursday that more layoffs are spreading throughout the economy. Accordiing to the Labor Department, the number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment insurance for the week ending January 17 was a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million. This is the highest since records started in l967. That is an increase of 159,000 from the previous week and worse than economists expectations of 4.65 million. I know in our state thousands have been laid off and more are going to be laid off. Winnebago, one of the largest employers in our area, has cut its employee numbers more than half.