Jobless Rate At 9.7 %; 216K Jobs Lost In August

    WASHINGTON (AP) - The unemployment rate jumped to 9.7 percent in August, the highest since June 1983, as employers eliminated a net total of 216,000 jobs.
    The level of job cuts is less than July’s upwardly revised total of 276,000 and is the lowest in a year. Analysts expected the unemployment rate to rise to 9.5 percent from July’s 9.4 percent, and job reductions to total 225,000.
    If laid-off workers who have settled for part-time work or have given up looking for new jobs are included, the so-called underemployment rate reached 16.8 percent, the highest on records dating from 1994.