By SCOTT WHIPPLE
Staff writer

Friday’s news that national unemployment hit double digits caused a rippling effect among the state’s financial and political community.

Nancy Steffens, spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor, offered some balm for the 10.2 percent wound.

Steffens said President Barack Obama’s signature on a bill extending 14 more weeks of benefits to most states was a welcome feature of the stimulus package. An unemployment rate of 8.5 percent or higher would have qualified Connecticut for 20 additional weeks. However, the state’s unemployment rate in September was 8.4 percent.

“We were close, but not close enough,” said Steffens, who pointed out that with an 8.5 percentage Connecticut would have qualified for a maximum 99 weeks of unemployment benefits. A total of 26 states qualified for maximum benefits.

Roger Therrien, director of research for the state Department of Labor, said he expected Connecticut’s unemployment rate to approach 9 percent.

“We’ll have the actual figures in a couple of weeks,” he said.

Therrien said jobs in the state may have been saved through stimulus funds “but there’s little evidence for the creation of jobs. Employers will be cautious about hiring until they see signs that recent business activities will be sustained.”

He believes national unemployment will rise in 2010.

State GOP Chairman Chris Healy said ongoing unemployment is a testimony to “a policy of bigger government, more spending and the hope that bureaucrats can manage our economy better than the private sector.”

Healy said the stimulus package took money out of the economy “when people needed to invest, spend and save. So, with no job creation we have a perfect recipe for disaster. Sadly, the American working class is paying the price.”

CBIA Economist Pete Gioia looked for a silver lining in the gray unemployment rate and found one.

“Well, the good news is [national] unemployment numbers were lower than the previous month,” he said. “And, they were certainly better than earlier this year. So, the news is getting less terrible.”

On the other hand, nationwide unemployment at 11 percent “is a definite possibility. We need to restore consumer confidence; we want a situation that when jobs return the economy is ready. We may be technically be out of a recession, but recovery will be slow and rocky.”

To Brian Beck, president and CFO of Farmington-based Wealth Management Group of North America, LLC the future of the economy hinges on job creation in the next four to six months.

“Look at the kind of jobs being created by the stimulus fund,” he said. “Are they seasonal, or will they be permanent, long-term jobs?”

According to Beck, the big money managers trading millions of shares a day, aren’t panicked by the high unemployment rate.

Yet, mention “consumer confidence” and they get interested. He agrees with Gioia: When unemployment hits 11 percent there’s cause for concern.

Three Republican Senate candidates running against Democratic incumbent Chris Dodd knew whom to point a finger at.

Rob Simmons said that the fact that unemployment skyrocketed to 10.2 percent, the highest in a generation, “is a stark reminder of the pain being inflicted on millions of Americans thanks to Senator Dodd’s personal failure to properly oversee the banking and housing industries.

“It’s also further evidence that the Democrats’ prescription for jobs is bad medicine. By continuing to throw good money after bad in the form of so-called ‘stimulus’ spending, Democrats are fueling the fire of economic destruction. I renew my call to halt the out-of-control spending and dedicate unused stimulus funds to deficit reduction or pro-growth tax cuts.”

U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon said Washington “got it dead wrong. The short-sighted strategy of jump-starting the economy through massive bailouts and endless spending has failed, and it has left in its wake an unthinkable federal debt that further burdens our economy and threatens the American Dream for future generations.”

McMahon said that instead of empowering small businesses that create 70 percent of jobs, “Washington is pouring trillions of dollars into more government and more bureaucracy. Endless government expansion is not the key to economic growth and job creation. Connecticut’s small businesses are. It’s time for our leaders in Washington to take an honest assessment, recognize that the economic strategy they are pursuing is failing and change course.”

Senate candidate Tom Foley also weighed in on unemployment.

“With unemployment rising into double digits, it’s time for the Democrats and Chris Dodd to admit the stimulus bill isn’t working,” Foley said. “Instead of stopping job loss in the private sector, the stimulus bill is just adding to our debt and expanding the size and scale of our federal government.”

Foley added that “we need our Washington politicians to focus on jobs and the economy instead of trying to ram through large new government spending programs that will slow future economic growth and aren’t supported by voters.”

Dodd had a response.

Connecticut’s senior Senator said: “These are tough times for middle class families in Connecticut. I fought for additional unemployment benefits to help people make ends meet while they look for jobs. And, I fought to extend and expand the home buyer’s tax credit so that more middle class families can realize the American Dream and begin to build a secure economic future. We’ll keep fighting until our economy is back on the right track.”