Job Losses Slow as Obama Urges Job Training for Unemployed

Job losses slowed in April, even as overall unemployment reached its highest level in over 25 years, according to figures released by the Labor Department on Friday.

April's job losses of 539,000 were the lowest total since October, which many took as an encouraging sign the recession is finally bottoming out after averaging 680,000 the past five months. Even so, the overall unemployment rose to 8.9 percent, its highest level since September 1984 and up from 8.5 percent in March.

Suggests training for those on umemployment

President Obama took the occasion to call for changes to unemployment compensation laws that would allow workers to train for new careers while still drawing unemployment. In many states, unemployment workers who enroll in degree programs or take job training classes currently lose their eligibility for to draw unemployment.

"Well, that doesn't make much sense for our economy or our country," Obama said. "So we're going to change it. First, we'll open new doors to higher education and job training programs to recently laid-off workers who are receiving unemployment benefits. And if those displaced workers need help paying for their education, they should get it."

Pell Grant program

Obama said one the things he wants to do is open the federal Pell Grant program to unemployed workers to help them pursue education and training for new jobs at community colleges, which he called "one of America's underappreciated assets."

"These schools offer practical education and technical training, and they're increasingly important centers of learning where Americans can prepare for the jobs of the future" he said.

The president and other administration officials have often said that they believe the recovery from this recession will be slow and that many workers will not be returning to the jobs they previously held.

Recovery may come late for jobless

April's slowing in the rate of job losses is a favorable sign for the economy - in most recessions, the economy typically begins to recover shortly after job losses ease. But employment itself tends to lag behind the recovery in the economy at large, and many expect it could still be a year or two before total unemployment begins to drop significantly, even with a recovering economy.

An estimated 5.7 million jobs have been lost since the recession began in December 2007, bringing total unemployment to 13.7 million people, according to the Department of Labor. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 498,000 in April, to 3.7 million, up from 1.3 million at the start of the recession in December 2007.