Unemployment rate to remain above 10 percent through 2010, says Kiplinger’s

Unemployed workers are unlikely to see much relief as they look to consolidate debt while looking to restart their careers, as Kiplinger is forecasting unemployment rates to remain above 10 percent through both 2009 and 2010.

In an article written by The Kiplinger Letter associate editor Jerome Idaszak, he warned that national unemployment figures stood to increase further in 2010 before finally recovering.

He added that the rate could increase to as high as 10.5 percent by the spring before declining closer to 10 percent by the end of the year.

Idaszak said even as companies begin seeing better financial prospects, total employment would likely only increase by about 1 million workers. This lack of new jobs will be due to companies’ preferences of transitioning part-time employees to full-time positions as they become less wary of expanding and begin to increase production.

"It will take years to return to pre-recession employment totals, rehiring the nearly 8 million folks who have been laid off, plus the 1.5 million new workers who enter the labor market each year," he
wrote. "And that doesn’t take into account the 9 million part-time workers who want to hold down a full-time job."

The unemployment rate for October sat at 10.2 percent, its highest rate since 1983.