Hot Docs: Grim Unemployment Numbers, 'Unsustainable' Federal Budget, Chemical Spills in Schools

Unemployment Rises in October: The October jobs numbers are in, and the situation is grim. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the U.S. economy lost 240,000 jobs last month, leaving 10.1 million Americans unemployed. The unemployment rate rose to 6.5 percent, in contrast to a 4.8 percent unemployment rate last October. Manufacturing jobs have been the hardest hit. In total, 1.2 million jobs have been lost so far in 2008.

GAO: U.S. Fiscal Outlook "Unsustainable": Healthcare costs and the aging American population will make America's fiscal path "unsustainable" in the long term, according to new projections. The Government Accountability Office ran two sets of economic simulations using numbers from the Congressional Budget Office and data on recent fiscal trends. (The simulations were completed before the passage of the federal bailout package.) In each scenario, the national debt rose rapidly, causing "declining GDP and future living standards." This could have dire effects. One scenario projects that in 10 years, 76 cents of every federal dollar "will be spent on retirees and their healthcare providers, healthcare providers for the poor, and our bond holders," leaving little room for spending on defense, emergency preparedness, and infrastructure. These skyrocketing healthcare costs should be addressed quickly, the report observes, calling them "our nation's number-one long-term fiscal challenge."

School Chemical Spills Cause Injuries, Evacuations: From 2002 to 2007, there were 423 toxic chemical spills in elementary or secondary schools in 15 states that resulted in 895 injuries and 11 hospitalizations, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The survey also found that 62 percent of the incidents were caused by human error and 17 percent were intentional acts. The intentional acts included the use of homemade chemical bombs and the release of mace or pepper spray. About 52 percent of the incidents caused school evacuations.

USCIS Processes Record Number of Naturalization Applications in 2008: Last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services increased the number of naturalization applications it processed by 56 percent. A USCIS press release announces that a record 1,171,140 naturalization applications were processed during the 2008 fiscal year. The improved turnaround on applications is partially due to the increase in USCIS employees. More than 2,000 staff were hired, an increase of 24 percent from the previous fiscal year. The number of refugees admitted to the United States grew 25 percent, to more than 60,000. Sending officers to interview more than 100,000 applicants in 71 countries contributed to the increase in admitted refugees.

Canada, Saudi Arabia Reward Academics: A study of 15 nations finds that Canada pays the highest wages for beginning academics and Saudi Arabia has the highest salaries for top-level professors. The study, by Boston College's Center for International Higher Education, found that the average monthly salary for entry-level academics is just over $5,200 in Canada, with the United States second at nearly $4,600 and China last at $682. The average monthly salary at the highest levels is nearly $8,500 in Saudi Arabia and almost $8,000 in Canada, with China again last at just over $1,800.