'Pentagon enjoys US unemployment'

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/157829.html


The mounting unemployment rate in the United States has provided an opportunity for the Pentagon to recruit more people for its unpopular wars abroad, an analyst says.

In an interview with Press TV, investigative journalist Wayne Madsen referred to the high unemployment rate in the US, especially in poorer states such as Alabama.

“Unemployment there is at 33 percent. It is so bad that young people graduating from high school have no other choice but to join the military,” he said.

“That is pretty good for the Pentagon and its recruiting numbers that also creates more cannon for these senseless wars that the United States has engaged in overseas,” Madsen pointed out.

He argued that while small businesses create most of the jobs, “We hear that small businesses cannot get the credit from the banks to even think about creating more jobs and employing more people.”

Madsen expressed unease over policies of US President Barack Obama's administration, emphasizing that “is more concerned about the interests of Wall Street than the interest of Main Street.”

He said a top Democratic Party economic advisor has predicted that in case the situation in the US continues like this, “There is going to be a city after city, county after county and state after state, declaring bankruptcy.”

The latest data shows that the jobless rate in the US remained at 9.6 percent for a third consecutive month in October.

This is while the US Labor Department announced a 20,000 increase in initial claims for unemployment benefits last month. The new claims pushed up the number of seasonally adjusted benefit claims to 457,000 in October.

The US Labor Department has also announced that almost 15 million Americans currently collect unemployment benefits.

Experts are of the opinion that the outlook for the rest of the year is likely to remain bleak.