Highest Jobless Claims in 7 Years

New claims for unemployment benefits jumped last week to their highest level in seven years due to the impact of a slowing economy and Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The department said new requests for jobless benefits for the week ending Sept. 20 increased by 32,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 493,000, much higher than analysts' expectations of 445,000.

The two hurricanes added about 50,000 new claims in Louisiana and Texas, the department said. The four-week moving average, which smooths out fluctuations, rose to 462,500. That's the highest it has been since Nov. 3, 2001. The level of new claims was the highest since shortly after the 9/11 attacks, when it reached 517,000. David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities, said Thursday's figure is the second-highest since July 1992. Claims have topped 500,000 only a handful of times in the past twenty years, he said, and were consistently above that level during the 1991 recession.

Even excluding the effects of the hurricanes, jobless claims remain at elevated levels. Weekly claims have now topped 400,000 for ten straight weeks, a level economists consider a sign of recession. A year ago, claims stood at 309,000. The report "reflects a marked deterioration in the job market." Resler wrote in a note to clients. "That deterioration may well accelerate as the distress in the financial markets deepens and the effect of credit impairment spreads to other sectors." The number of people continuing to draw jobless benefits last week was 3.54 million, up 63,000 from the previous week and nearly a five-year high. The four-week average of continuing claims was 3.49 million. Other economic indicators Thursday were also negative.

Highest Jobless Claims in 7 Years

Where the Jobs are for Retirees

With the crisis in the financial markets and the volatility of the stock market, retirement may mean working at least part-time for many people.

According to a recent AARP survey, 8 out of 10 baby boomers want to keep working after they "retire," some because they expect to need the income or medical benefits, but many others because they aren't yet ready to feel they've been put out to pasture. "I really want to stay active and challenged," said Ortiz. "I've seen plenty of former colleagues retire and die shortly afterward, and I think that's because they had nothing compelling going on in their lives."

So let's say you're trying to plan your golden years, you've picked out a couple of places where you might like to live, and you're wondering about job opportunities there. Most towns' Chambers of Commerce are happy to send you an information packet describing local employers, and a subscription to the local paper will let you keep an eye on help-wanted ads in the area.

But now, thanks to a collaboration between AARP and a huge employment Web site for the over-50 crowd called RetirementJobs.com, there's a quicker and easier way:

• Go to www.aarp.org/money/work and enter the name or zip code of the town you're considering, plus a keyword describing what kind of work you're after ("sales" or "accounting," for example), and you'll get a listing of current job openings posted by local employers - many of them familiar national brand names like Staples (SPLS, Fortune 500) and Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) - that welcome older, experienced workers.
• The AARP site offers a wealth of other information and support for anyone planning to launch a second career in retirement. Check out The Water Cooler, an online discussion group about career issues for people over 50, and AARP's blog, ShAARP Session.
• Not surprisingly, a broad array of other online resources are popping up to help the 70-million-member boomer generation navigate the post-retirement career waters. No matter where you end up living when you've bid farewell to your current career, if you plan to keep working, here's a sampling of other sites worth a visit:
  Ageless in America - resources for older job seekers from Boom or Bust! New Careers in a New America co-authors Brad Taft and Carleen McKay.
  RetirementJobs.com - part job board, part advisor, and coach for job-seeking seniors.
  young2retire.com - Howard and Marika Stone, co-authors of Too Young to Retire: 101 Ways to Start the Rest of Your Life, offer coaching, a newsletter, profiles of interesting late-in-life career changers, and much more.

You may find all of these resources helpful, but don't forget to use the telephone and talk with people face-to-face to gain information, network, and secure retirement positions.

Where the Jobs Are for Retirees