Statistics released by the US government this week go a long way to confirm that people in certain states face significantly worse debt problems than those in other states simply due to a lack of solid employment opportunities.

Millions of Americans are struggling to find work, the situation is tough especially for those in Navada, California, Michigan and Rhode Island according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The US unemployment rate is currently 9.8% and it is expected to reach 10% before it starts to improve early next year. Some 23 states saw their rate increase during September, whilst only 19 saw a decrease.

Unlike here in the UK, unemployment benefits are time limited in many states, meaning that those out of work may for long periods may be coming to an end. To make this worse, members of Congress have not been able to come to an agreement over any increase to the existing benefits that can be claimed, leaving more citizens of the worlds wealthiest nation in the dark.

In a separate set of statistics released by the Department of Labor on Thursday, the number of workers filing for first-time unemployment benefits increased by 11,000 to 531,000 nationwide. These have declined generally during the year, however, in recent weeks the trend has been very inconsistent. This is not unexpected as many economists have publicly acknowledged that any recovery will be slow especially with regards to jobs being created.

Repossessions set to soar as interest rise fuels debt management problems