The official U.S. unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent in April from 9.7 percent in March, but the economy added many more new jobs last month than had been expected.
The economy added 290,000 new jobs last month, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said moments ago. Forecasters expected 162,000 new jobs to be created.
This is a very strong monthly jobs report despite the tick up in the unemployment rate, which will draw all the headlines. Even the increase in the unemployment rate is a good sign. Why? Because it means that discouraged workers — people who actually had given up looking for work — are reentering the job market.
Some 800,000 workers reentered the job market last month. Many of them did not find jobs, so the unemployment rate increased from 9.7 to 9.9 percent. But they’re looking for work again and that’s a strong sign. The Labor Department counts you as unemployed only if you’re jobless and looking for work. If you’re jobless and not looking for work, it counts you as a “discouraged” worker and removes you from the labor market. That can sometimes cause an artificial tick down in the overall unemployment rate. (more…)
If you can’t get enough grants or scholarships, and have done all you can to reduce your costs, it may be a wise move to borrow—in moderation and carefully—for your graduate education. Studies show that graduate degrees often help boost career and earnings options. Still, because the economy is unpredictable, it’s prudent to try to limit your debt. Here are some tips to reduce your graduate school debts.
Income-based repayment is a new federal student loan repayment opportunity for students graduating with a large amount of debt and a small income. Income-based repayment helps borrowers keep their loan payments affordable with payment caps based on their income and family size. This plan is particularly beneficial for people graduating from expensive graduate programs, like medical or law school, who could have loan debt of $100,000 or more. It can also help anyone who graduates into a poor job market.
Educational loan is offered to the students to facilitate them to obtain higher education in India or abroad. The chief motive to provide this privilege to the student community is to let them learn and develop career in the various streams. Many students over the period of time had lost good career opportunities just because they or their parents could not afford the higher education. Now the banks are offering excellent loan schemes to the students so they can pursue the higher education in the streams like medical, biomedical, genetics, engineering, technology etc. Educational loans are available to the students who are pursuing Graduate or Post Graduate Programs in India or Abroad. These programs include Engineering, Medical, Management and other specialty course. This loan can be sanctioned to the students who have secured their admission on merit and through a selection procedure of the desired institute. Students within the age group of 18-25 can apply for loan for graduation programs whereas students from age group of 21-28 can get loan for post graduate or doctoral programs. The age limit can be relaxed by the lending institution depending upon the course and caliber of the student. The educational loan generally covers boarding fees, examination fees, traveling expenses, caution amount or deposit etc. along with the tuition fees charged by the institute. The students obtaining their education in India get maximum loan up to Rs. 7.5 Lac whereas the students going abroad for education can get up to Rs. 15 Lacs. The repayment can be done in 5-7 years after the student begins the repayment. No security is required for the educational loan up to Rs.4 Lac. The parents/guardian or a friend/relative can sign as guarantor while applying for this loan above Rs. 4 Lac or bank may seek a collateral security equivalent to the loan amount. The maximum limit of education loan can be extended by the lending institutes or banks in deserving cases.