Pasadena, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/09/2010 -- The unemployment rate this year could go upwards of 10 percent this year. This estimate is given by economists at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research and Morgan Stanley.

Right now the unemployment rate remains at 9.6 percent as of August, with the underemployment rate going up to 16.7 percent. Michelle Meyer, an economist at BofA Merrill Lynch says that even after a year the employment situation will stay feeble as the economy’s growth rate is too sluggish. Economists at Morgan Stanley suggest an unemployment rate of 9.7 percent by year end.

But this minor difference in percentage points does not begin to cover the seemingly permanent job losses that older Americans and those entering the workforce are facing. Everywhere in the country, local media outlets are carrying stories of people 50 and above having a hard time getting even a minimum wage job.

The main industries where jobs where being created were the professional services, education, health services, and leisure and hospitality. The healthcare sector alone added 28,000 jobs, while the construction industry added 19,000 jobs, but most of them were returning from the July strike. Jobs in the temp sector also went up by 17,000 in August.

Reacting to the latest jobs report, A. Harrison Barnes, CEO of Hound, says “It’s a tough economy for most people, but networking and smart job search methods are the key to getting a job. There are people who give up because they are using the same job search techniques instead of trying new methods”. Barnes confidence in the job market stems from the fact that his company, Hound, which is a job search engine, has been able to add over 7,000 in the last two days alone.