the u.s. economy shed more jobs in september as the unemployment rate kept climbing. margaret warner has our lead story report. >> warner: the nation's unemployment rate rose to 9.8% in september, the highest in 26 years. employers cut 263,000 jobs, tens of thousands more than economists had predicted. in testimony today, the labor department's keith hall described how far the jobs picture has slid since the recession's onset in december 07. >> a total of 15.1 million persons were unemployed in september, twice the number at the start of the recession. the number of long-term unemployed rose to 5.4 million in september. this group has grown more than fourfold since the start of the recession. >> warner: the official rate is only part of the picture. the so-called "hidden" unemployment rate which includes those who've settled for part- time work or given up looking altogether has hit 17%. president obama noted today that the economy isn't losing jobs as fast as it was a year ago. >> but today's job report is a sobering reminder that progress comes in fits and start, and we're going to need to grind out this recovery, step by step. emp

is always slightly above the national unemployment rate? >> is generally a buffet. >> it is always above the. i think if it has been more about that? >> i'm not sure if it was more in 2009, it's been about the same gap. i'm not sure about whether 2008. >> i think somewhere, well, it was up further than 10% rate. but i think people would be surprised by that because we want to make, when those who serve us, we want to make sure they have a job. and it's difficult because those that left in the middle of the beginning of this recession, come back and maybe the company work for isn't there anymore or they have significantly reduced their employment. so that is a change. another thing i wondered about was the discouraged workers, and these are people who work full time who would like to work full-time, right, but they can only find a part-time job. or people, is that the characterization of discouraged worker, or should include those that can't find a job at all? >> yeah, there's a broader category called marginally attached. >> what is marginal

on the question of unemployment insurance, as long as our needs are out there, it is important to take care of the uninsured. host: 9.8% is the national unemployment rate right now. since the start of the recession, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million. caller: i appreciate being on with the center. i have been watching the debates going on. i am a practicing physician. many of my friends are willing to come to the table to help provide solutions. we are not permitted to come to the table. most of the debate is led by the people who run the insurance companies. we see a growing administrative costs in health care. those of us who are in primary care are not allowed to bring efficiency to the health care delivery system. eventually, there was a statistic that the cost of health care for people that used drugs is in the area of $200 million. if this country moves to get people to get off these agents, we would move into preventive health care, weight reduction, stopping smoking. if we did not use drugs in the western world, there would be no market. eventually, it would be able to move the society for. guest: your

right now the nation's unemployment rate stands at a whopping 9.8%. that is the highest its been since 1983. but in his weekly radio address, the president said an overhaul of the country's health care system would help by making it more affordable for small businesses to start up. >> we certainly made progress on this front since the period last winter when we were losing an average of 700,000 jobs each month. but yesterday's report on september job losses was a sobering reminder that progress comes in fits and starts and that we will need to grind out this recovery step by step. >>> republicans are laying the blame for the sky-high unemployment rate at the feet of president obama and the democrats. congresswoman candice miller said the president's economic stimulus bill fell far short of the mark. >> all told, our economy has lost roughly 3 million private sector jobs since president obama and speaker nancy pelosi's trillion-dollar stimulus plan became law. at the time the people of michigan were told that the so-called stimulus would create jobs in

. >>> today could be the day that the nation's unemployment rate hits 150% for the first time in more than 26 years. our money expert jennifer westhoven is here and investors are not optimistic. >> no, very worried. the jobless rate at a 26-year high, more than 7 million jobs have been destroyed since this great recession started in 2007. a lot of people call it that, because it is the worst recession we've seen since the great depression. there's a lot of fear that maybe all the betting and hope that a recovery is coming, maybe we're not that close. there you see the dow down about 200 points, taking it back down to about 9500. we talked yesterday about the ceo of america's biggest bank quitting, ken lewis. you can't believe this. here is his pension, $53 mill. $53 million. for what? for being retired. that was in the small print. they never tell you in the big announcements. it was in the problems dpi statement. lewis is leaving amid heavy quit sichl of his bank's taking over merrill lynch. it breaks down to a cool $3.5 million a year. nice. >> wow. >>> let me give you good news. mo

i can tell you where states that have the lowest unemployment rate, in general the northeast region has lower unemployment rates than the rest of the nation. although it is not a lot lower. is about 9%. but there are a number of states -- there's not a real rhyme or reason to. i will just mention some of the state. and rehab is up on our website so people can take a look. north dakota south dakota, nebraska, utah, virginia, montana, wyoming are all the states with the lowest unemployment rates right now. and it's a fairly long list of states that have below average unemployment rates. >> some idea of consumer confidence. i think it is so easy, dr. hall, for us to say that the sky is falling. and if we say the sky is falling, it has a tendency to make people believe the sky is falling. and i think it has a tendency to add to the problems. that is, i don't think we should be over opted mystic but i think we need to call it like it is. if we are moving in the right direction, we need to say that to the american people will be clear on that. but we also need to keep in mind as ms. klobuchar has eloquently stated when we have come from. and i

we just got word the nation's unemployment rate rose again to 9.8%, the highest since 26 years. bad is it here in maryland? >> nationally we're creeping up to 10% unemployment. we don't have the most recent figures. what we have seen is that we're holding steady at 7.2%. however, economists say that by the end of the year you will see an uptick in that number. right now, they're about 213,000 marylanders looking for jobs. that's a small number compared to the 15 million nationally that are without jobs right now. at the start of the recession. at least 7.5 million or so. >> if you're looking for job advice, let's cover this quickly. there are jobs out there. what i'm finding is that they are not advertised. so your best bet is to work through your network. in other words, go meet with ten or 20 influential people who may be on a lot of boards, who may have high connections with companies, and let them know you're looking. send them your resume so that when they hear the jobs they will think of you. >> that is some of the best job seeking advice i've heard lately. >> finally, good

the rogue nation? >> julie: eight more americans killed in afghanistan as heavily armed insurgents came in two out posts. what are our troops doing to combat the attacks? >> gregg: the nation's unemployment rate climbing to the highest level. how to fix the economy and create more jobs. julie is live with more. >> no easy answers. alan greenspan did have advice on what not to do. he doesn't think another big economic stimulus plan is a good idea. he says we are in the middle of an economic recovery but he predicts the unemployment rate will push backs 10%. which is not a pretty picture if you are looking for a job. greenspan says he is worried about the people who have been out of work for a wrong time, six months or longer because he says they start to lose job skills. >> the economy loses skills. the people who are out of work for very protracted periods of time lies their skills eventually and remember, what makes an economy great is a combination of the capital assets of the economy and the people that run it. >> reporter: more than 7 million jobs since december of 2007 when the unemployment rate was 4.9%. in washington there is a little agreement to what to do to revive the economy now.

. >>> the nation's unemployment rate is 9.8%. it's a 26-year high. the numbers igniting concerns that the labor market may be a long way off. >>> three banks in michigan, minnesota and colorado were shut. this brings the total to 98. today marks one year since t.a.r.p. went into effect. pullback on halloween spending this year. the foundation expects people will spend $10 less this year. as far as costumes go, one costume company predicts the top sellers michael jackson, farrah fawcett, ed mcmahon and billy mays. >>> starbucks just unveiled a new instant coffee. it's available in thousands of locations, including airlines and office depot. joining me live to talk all things coffee and money, vera gibbons. good morning. >> good morning. >> i think people know our relationship with starbucks. >> every day. >> anyway, let's get to the instant coffee. why now? >> starbucks have been losing customers. they are trying to win customers back, drive traffic. by being in the new places, they are hoping to expand the brand and bring people in and get away from b

the nation's unemployment rate climbed to 9.8% in september, the highest in 26 years.hief washington correspondent jim angle looks at the difference in how the dismal economic numbers have been received this year and back in 1982. >> president obama and ronald reagan both faced high and rising unemployment, but in a new report from the business and mead yane stute finds that one president got a lot more blame than another. >> the mentions of the reagan administration were negative in 91% of instances where obama's mentions were only negative 7% of the time. that is actually 13 times more negative to president ronald reagan. >> in spite of the fact that from march to september of 1982 and 2009, the jobless numbers were remarkably similar under both men, but on-line now, the networks in the early '80's blamed it squarely on president reagan. spokesmen from the reagan white house are coming to dread the unemployment figures because it gets harder and harder to explain. >> there isn't any good news in the statistics, all the numbers are bad plawsm reagan's policies aren't

yno itft'sse sut'cu tyftef (ckicli >> welcome back, bottom of the hour, your headlines, the nation's unemployment rate closing in on the 10% mark, that's not good and according to u.s. labor department the economy lost 253,000 jobs, last month and putting the unemployment rate at 9.8%. >> iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad lashing out at president obama, saying obama made a, quote, big mistake when he accused iran of hiding a newly revealed nuclear site. >> and crews battling a wildfire in arizona and u.s. forest service spokesperson saying the fast moving flames scorched more than 800 acres, so far and forced dozens of people from their homes, and north of phoenix. >> and the west keeps getting hit and rescue teams in indonesia suspect the death toll of wednesday's earthquake may skyrocket and searchers pushing deeper into the country and coming across several villages completely obliterated by landslides and pedang,y university town thousands may be buried under rubble, and david piper is there with more. >> reporter: there are real concerns, now, the death toll from these two massive earthquakes

that more than 263,000 americans lost their jobs in the month of september alone and the national unemployment ratereased yet again to 9.8%. president obama can either acknowledge that his economic experiments have failed and change course or continue down this path and see even more americans lose their jobs. david what do you make of those numbers? >> they are not good, obviously. the question for the democrat, people worry will this be 1994 again when we lost a lot of seats in the house in the real worry might be 1982. back in 1982 we had a very popular republican president, he had come in with a lot of wind at his back and still come the 1982 midterms by that time, he owned the recession, wasn't getting better and the republicans lost a lot of seats that year. >> eliz berkts you covered the white house and politics before defense and foreign policy, does that sound like an attack line that can get traction for the republicans? >> sure what they have got, the best thing they have got right now with the president, still very popular, even though a lot of his policies are not popular. i think i se

it's expected to say 188,000 jobs were lost last month and the nation's unemployment rate has climbed closer to a major victory in the senate finance committee. approval would clear the way for majority leader harry reid to merge it with another bill approved by the senate health panel which includes the public option provision. the combined measure should hit the senate floor in about two weeks. >>> time to take a look at your friday weather. stormy in minneapolis, chicago, detroit, nashville. houston and new orleans will see showers. rain across south florida. it will be hot and dry in southern califora. >> sweater weather in the midwest with some temperatures more than 10 degrees cooler than usual. chicago 56. miami, new orleans, dallas all in the 80s. l.a. is warmer than usual at about 86. >>> now there is a whole museum dedicated to the man behind the house. walt disney's family cut the ribbon on the $110 million museum yesterday in san francisco. the exhibits follow disney from his tough life growing up to his eventual mega success. >> items on display include the evolution of m

the job market in virginia is improving. the rate fell to six 0.5% in august. it is well below the national average. the district's unemployment rate was 11 to 1% in august. 7. % in maryland. >>> d.c. residents will pay more to shop and buy gas. you will now pay three and a half since more for gas. smokers will pay 50 cents more for a pack. the budget goes into effect today. >>> the imf says u.s. growth will be slow. >> linda bell is live in new york with the latest business headlines on a thursday. good morning again. >> we do have some comments from the international monetary fun they are saying that rising unemployment over strained growth next year and the u.s. economy will grow only 1.4%. worldwide, they expect the economy to grow 3.1%. the july forecast was for 2.1%. stock index futures are indicating a lower open. there will be reports on personal income and speing, manufacturing, and pending home sales. september also sales will also come out. good news if you have been holding onto one of those american express gift cards. they're doing away with the fees for card stecco on us that go u. that is your business news. li

on the question of unemployment insurance, as long as our needs are out there, it is important to take care of the uninsured. host: 9.8% is the national unemployment rate since the start of the recession, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million. caller: i appreciate being on with the center. i have been watching the debates going on. i am a practicing physician. many of my friends are willing to come to the table to help provide solutions. we are not permitted to come to the table. most of the debate is led by the people who run the insurance companies. we see a growing administrative costs in health care. those of us who are in primary care are not allowed to bring efficiency to the health care delivery system. eventually, there was a statistic that the cost of health care for people that used drugs is in the area of $200 million. if this country moves to get people to get off these agents, we would move into preventive health care, weight reduction, stopping smoking. if we did not use drugs in the western world, there would be no market. eventually, it would be able to move the society for. guest: your comments a

the virginia job market is improving. the unemployment rate fell to 6.5% in august. it is well below the national average of 9.6%. e district's unemployment rate was 11 to 1%. >>> d.c. residents will pay more to shop and buy gas. the sales tax jumps to 6%. you will now pay 3 1/2 since more for gasoline. it will help real in the city's budget which goes into effect today. >>> 5:35. >> still ahead, the first family on the stretch. >> we were so happy to be here. we have a lot of work to do. >> the latest on the presidential push to bring the olympic games to the city of chicago. >> dealing with devastation after earthquakes rocked samoa. we will look at the recovery. ♪ save up to an extra 30% on beautiful and affordable fall style at jcpenney. come in for your extra savings card... ...to get an extra 15, 20, or 30% off all sale and regular prices when you use your jcpenney card. stores open early saturday with doorbusters. st. john's bay sweaters for her are just $14.99. st. john's bay sueded polos are $12.99. save 70% on all gold jewelry. go to jcp.com and see everything on sale. style, quality and price matter. jc

michigan is struggling with a $3 billion budget shortfall and the nation's highest unemployment rate. newly revealed nuclear facility in iran will be major topic today during a ming of the u.n. security council in switzerland. the u.s. i wants a watchdog group to have access to the site. one says washington is open to rare one-on-one talks with iranian diplomats. those are the headlines we are following. a busy one. welcome back. i'm natasha curry. robin meade is on assignment this thursday. >>> democrats are saying they will get a health care reform bill on the floor of both houses within two weeks. it is a tall order. there's no agreement on whether they create a government paid insurance option and republican efforts to amend the bill support has failed. president obama was working the phones yesterday trying to get more democrats to support the proposal. >>> chicago police say they are fighting a code of silence as they try to track down more suspects in the beating death of a teenager. darion albert was an innocent bystander who was attacked during a gang fight. it was caught on

. >> with the nation's unemployment rate at 9.8%, republicans say it is the democrats who are making it hard for small businesses to survive. we have project economy team acoverage with 11 news reporter brian mooar. >> more bad news on the economic front means more trouble for president obama. he's trying to convince the american people a recovery is underway. >> yesterday's report on september job losses was a sobering reminder that progress comes in fits and starts and that we will need to grind out this recovery step by step. >> with continuing job losses and low cauns confidence levels are making it tougher to sell the health reform he says is a key to creating jobs. >> rising health care costs are undermining our businesses and costing our nages more jobs with each passing month. >> republicans are offering ways to help our families across the country. >> republicans say the economy would be in better shape if their tax cuts and other policies had been in place. >> washington democrats' job-killing agenda makes me think they are on a different planet than the people in america's

. >>> we'll find out if the nation's unemployment rate could hit 20% for the first time in 26 years. our money expert jennifer westhoven is here. investors on wall street are not too optimistic. >> no. they're worried. we could see that last night in the stock market. unyou employment still at a 26-year high, more than 7 million jobs destroyed since this recession started in 2007. it's been called the great recession because it's the worst one we've seen since the great depression back in the 1930s. so for a while there was optimism. we were heading into recovery. that's unraveling. the dow is off 200 points. some of the recent economic signals have been pretty weak. that's why we've got fear about the number coming in just about 15 minutes from now. we'll bring it to you as soon as we get it. we talked about yesterday the ceo of america's biggest bank calling it quits. ken lewis at bank of america will get a pension worth 53 million and a pretty golden to me, $53 million. that was in some of the small print in the proxy statement and that breaks down to a cool $3.5 million a year fo

. >>> bad news now when it comes to fixing the nation's financial mess. the unemployment rate rose in september to 9.8 % which is the highest since june of 1983. employers cut far more jobs than expected. the economy also lost a net total of 263,000 jobs last month. president obama says employment is often the last thing to come back after a recession. he promises his administration is doing everything it can to help out. >>> if you are looking for work, check out the fox 5 job shop on myfoxdc.com. hour job of the day is at laurel adjustment bureau. that's a repo company. they're looking for a tow truck driver. pay is between $40,000 and $50,000 a year. for more on this job and others head to myfoxdc.com. click on the job shop tab at the top of the home page. >>> money worries have many skipping on out on vacations but taking a trip might not be as far out of reach as you think. brenda budget near shows us -- butner shows us how to score the deals. >> reporter: attention travelers, fall deals are yours for the taking with hotel rates up to 40% lower than last year, you don't n

on the question of unemployment insurance, as long as our needs are out there, it is important to take care of the uninsured. host: 9.8% is the national unemployment ratew. since the start of the recession, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million. caller: i appreciate being on with the center. i have been watching the debates going on. i am a practicing physician. many of my friends are willing to come to the table to help provide solutions. we are not permitted to come to the table. most of the debate is led by the people who run the insurance companies. we see a growing administrative costs in health care. those of us who are in primary care are not allowed to bring efficiency to the health care delivery system. eventually, there was a statistic that the cost of health care for people that used drugs is in the area of $200 million. if this country moves to get people to get off these agents, we would move into preventive health care, weight reduction, stopping smoking. if we did not use drugs in the western world, there would be no market. eventually, it would be able to move the society for. guest: your comments

. >>> the nation's job market continuing to weaken in the month of accept with the unemployment rate rising 26-year high of 9.8%. joining us in a first on cnbc interview with reaction from the white house, secretary of labor hilda solis. madam secretary, great to speak to you. >> thank you. good morning. >> investors, americans out there are concerned. this latest jobs report is a big disappointment and the bond market is tell us perhaps we should be concerned with a double dip recession at this point. do you share those concerns? >> certainly we know this is an unprecedented level of unemployment. we haven't seen figures like this in about 30 years. and we know that we are doing everything we can in our power to try to add jobs to this economy. it's a struggle. we make some progress. we have seen some jobs stabilizing in terms of job loss. when you think about it in january, there were well over 700,000 jobs that were being lost. that went down to about an average of 300,000. so we're about at, you know, about the same rate that we saw in the last two months. this isn't acceptable b

michigan is struggling with a $3 billion budget shortfall and the nation's highest unemployment rate. >>> the newly revealed nuclear facility in iran will be a major topic today during a meeting of a u.n. security council in switzerland. the u.s. wants a u.n. watch dog group to have full access to the site. one senior u.s. official says washington is open to rare one-on-one talks with iranian diplomats. >>> these are some of the headlines we're following this morning. welcome back. good morning to you. i'm natasha curry in for robin meade today. she is on assignment. >>> democrats say they could get a health care reform bill on the floor of both houses within two weeks. that's a tall order, though. there is no agreement on whether to create a government paid insurance option and republican efforts to amend the bill to something they'll support have failed. now, yesterday president obama was working the phones trying to get more democrats to support the proposal. >>> a small plane crashed in indiana with f-16s trailing right behind it. norad said air traffic controllers called the mili

the tv host stunned his audience, admitting to sexual relationships he had with his staff. >>> family members of michael jackson are due in court today over custody hearings. >>> unemployment figures for september are released today. the national jobless rate hit up to 10%. >>> evacuations under way in the northern philippines, when a secondyphoon is expected to hit. >>> and indonesia, crews helped pulled survivors from quake-rubbled buildings. >> more on those stories coming up throughout the day here on abc news. >>> well, for some of you, your local news is up next. >> and for everyone else, "america this morning" continues after this. [ female announcer ] introducing new tide stain release. it helps get the toughest stains out the first time. whoa, that's a first. [ female announcer ] that's because new tide stain release is a revolutionary in-wash booster that works with your detergent to help remove the toughest stains... ...the first time. mom, let me grab that. another first. [ female announcer ] new tide stain release. stains out. no doubt. town house toppers-- the only cracker with raised edges... to keep dip in its place. town house toppers-- part .of the town house family., when it comes to toppings, we've got the edge. town ho

news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- greta: 9.8%, and guess what? that understates it. the labor department says the unemployment rate rose to 9.8%, but the real number is worse. why? joining us is steve moore, an editorial writer for "the wall street journal." this does not tell the whole story, does it, steve? >> these are pretty grim numbers, greta. as we have been talking about in recent months on your show, at least we could say that we are losing jobs at a slower pace than before. what is really discouraging about this report is that we lost more jobs than we did in august, so you have to wonder how in the world joe biden can say that the stimulus plan is working beyond his wildest dreams when we are still losing, one-quarter of 1 million jobs, but the real unemployment rate, it includes people not even looking for jobs anymore, that is higher. greta: they are not in that figure, those that are underemployed. it is common knowledge that these numbers are a lagging indicator, meaning the economy could be doing better, and you will not expect unemployment to look better for months. it could be so long that it is

the nation from h brink of economic collapse. critics say it only rewarded reckless behavior. with the unemployment rate president obama is looking for new ways to sell his health care plan. in his weakly web address, the president talks about how a new health care system could have ended up creating more jobs. >> we know that reforming our health insurance system will be a critical step in rebuilding our economy, so our entrepreneurs can pursue this american dream again. and our small businesses can grow and expand and create new jobs again. >> in the g.o.p. response, congresswoman candice miller says obama's health care plan will only end up hurting the economy, not helping it. >> our plan is based on the belief that fast acting tax relief is the most effective way to put or economy back on track. it focuses on helping small businesses, create jobs, not spending more taxpayer dollars to expand government. >> julie: the unemployment rate rose to 9.8% in september, the highest since 1983. and to taiwan now, a big scare today, earthquake striking in the ocean off of the island's coast, and taiwan's centr

the crisis comes as the nation's baby boomers inch closer toward needing nursing home care. >>> the recession may be turning around but not the unemployment rate. last month the rate reached 9.8%, the highest it's been in 26 years. and it may continue to rise. the former federal reserve chairperson alan greenspan predicts the jobless rate will pass 10% and stay there for quite a while. greenspan made the comment this morning during an interview. he also believes a second stimulus plan isn't needed just yet, but he did back the president's plan to extend unemployment benefits and tax credits for health insurance. >>> money worries have a lot of us skipping those out of town vacations, unfortunately wouldn't you like to be in miami right now. but taking a trip may not be as far out of reach as you think. airfare and hotel rates are dropping. so get those bags packed and take me with you. fox 5's brenda butner shows you how to sco the deals. >> reporter: attention, travelers. fall deals are yours for the taking w. hotel rates up to 40% lower than last year, you don't need to take a staycation. >> there are crazy deals to be had during the fall, m

the recession is still inflicting plenty of pain out there. the unemployment rate rose to 9.8% in september as employers cut more jobs than expected. the labor deparent says the nation's economy lost a net total of263,000 jobs last month. that is well above what economists predicted at 180 now. >>> now to developing stories in the pacific. she spent 40 hours trapped under rubble but crews pulled her out alive. that find reinvigorated frantic efforts to find survivors of two deadly waits in sumatra. it's estimated 3300 are missing and lesson hundred dead. heavy equipment to help sort through the rubble is expected to arrive today. >>> military convoys have dropped off food, water and medicine to the samoan islands. a tsunami crashed ashore with massive waves killing at least 169. police say e search for bodies could last another three weeks. a government official announced plans for a mass funeral and burial, restoring power to the capital of american samoa could take at least a month. >>> the white house trying diplomacy with iran is in talks designed to help stave off nuclear weapons development. president obama called yesterday's meeting in geneva constructive, but

the president and his national security team are considering the u.s. strategy in afghanistan, including sending more troops there. >>> we're talking money now. the unemployment rate is the highest it has been in 26 years. it inched up to 9.8% last month. the last time we saw jobless numbers this high was back in 1983 in july when unemployment hit 10.1%. >>> lawmakers worked until after midnight on a health care compromise bill. around 2:00 a.m. eastern, the senate chair max baucus said work had been completed on all parts of the legislation. now, democrats, they made last-minute change to ease the bill's impact on working class families. one change would exempt million of people from a requirement to buy health insurance. a final committee vote is set for next week. education secretary arnie duncan said federal stimulus money for education is meant to be extra dollars for school. he said some states are cutting their own education spending, and using that money to make up for it. duncan said the states will be health accountable, but because of the way the law is written, there may not be much federal officials can do here. >>> a cbs news producer is charged with

the data with us. >> i would like to see that. it would be interesting. lederle, you have not quite double the unemployment rate where you don't have a high school >> it is above the national rate with a high-school degree. it is significantly below that if you have a college degree. you can see why we are so focused on trying to make sure high school students get some college education. we will continue to pursue that. i think it is very important. the second thing i want to ask you about is that i think that people are stunned when they learned that our soldiers to come back from serving in iraq and afghanistan, the group that we categorize in the age group that had served in the armed services since 9/11, their unemployment rate has been traditionally higher than the unemployment rate of the average citizen in the united states. where is that this month? >> the unemployment rate is 10.6% as opposed to non-veterans where it is 9.2%. >> you and i have talked before about how this was worse earlier in the year. is that right? is it always just slightly above the national and a plenary? >> it is generally above it. >> it is always above it, i think. i just wonder if it has

i think our current unemployment rate is about 7.6%, but we're kind of counting our blessings because that's much lower than our state's average and much lower than the national average. we got hit later with this recession than most parts of the country. we didn't have the huge property bubble that many areas did, and until lehman brothers failed and then washington mutual, which was based here in seattle failed, we were not feeling the worst of it. we're optimistic in the long term though. we have a very vibrant and diverse economy here. we're seeing construction, amazon.com is building 1.5 million square foot headquarters. the gates foundation is building a large new headquarters in seattle. biotech, by know medicbiomedica are opening up research centers here. short term though we're struggling like everybody else. >> your unemployment rate is 7.6%. >> mayor mckrory, you have an k interesting take on this. >> it's not due to this region losing more jobs than other regions. it's due to so many people still moving to charlotte and north carolina for potential new jobs. they're coming from ohio and pennsylvania, and michigan, and even california with no jobs

unemployment rate is down. it fell to 6.5% in august. it is well below the national average of 9.6%. d.c.oining us. "live with regis and kelly" is next. announcer: it's "live with regis & kelly." today, from the new action comedy "zombieland," woody today, from the new action comedy "zombieland," woody harrelson.