Briefcase

Bureau says jobless rate grimmer than reported

An analysis of the latest government monthly economic data suggests the unemployment situation is worse than the headlines portray.

August numbers from the Labor Department found a 6.1 percent unemployment rate, or about 8.9 million people out of work. But in its analysis of other monthly data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. found the real unemployment rate was 9.1 percent, including those who want work but have stopped looking.

Also, the bureau found a surge in August — to 232,000 — of people who called themselves self-employed.

“Counted among the employed, some of these individuals may be merely masking their nonworking status as a self-esteem builder,” the Chicago-based firm said.

Technology

World meeting focusing on Internet use, policies

International negotiations have begun on how and whether to manage the Internet.

Organizers said a two-week meeting, which began last week in Geneva, aimed to narrow differences among countries ahead of the World Summit on the Information Society in mid-December.

The summit, organized by the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union, seeks common policy on using information technology to create greater prosperity.

The plan includes protecting minors from harmful content and assuring confidentiality of personal information, while addressing unsolicited e-mail, known as spam.

Wolfgang Kleinwaechter, a communications professor from Denmark’s Aarhus University, said many users were concerned that governments would impose regulations that would stifle freedom of the Internet.

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