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The Labor Department released statistics last Friday that revealed that the U.S. economy had shed 240,000 payroll jobs alone in October. Employment contracted for the tenth month in a row bringing the total number of job losses in 2008 to 1.2 million with half of those coming in just the last three months. With the new statistics factored in, the unemployment rate rose to a 14 year high at 6.5 percent. If adjusted for those in the market who are discouraged from seeking jobs or are employed only part-time when they want full-time employment, the figure increases to 11.8 percent. The state of the nation’s economy was front and center for President-elect Barack Obama’s first press conference after the election. With the latest sobering statistics from the Labor Department in mind, Obama made mention of the fact that he and his economic advisers were considering numerous options for a rescue plan including extending unemployment benefits for workers struggling to find a new job. Obama also noted that if a new stimulus package was not passed, it would be first on his agenda as President.

GUEST: Heidi Shierholz, economist with the Economic Policy Institute. For more information www.epi.org.