Thank God for that Obama stimulus package, huh? We were warned that unemployment could hit 9% if we didn’t pass it immediately and without reading the contents. Now the national unemployment is only, er, 9.5% and growing. *launch confetti cannons*

WASHINGTON – Employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate climbed to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent. Workers also saw weekly wages fall, suggesting Americans will have little appetite to spend and the economy’s road to recovery will be bumpy.

The Labor Department report, released Thursday, showed that even as the recession flashes signs of easing, companies likely will want to keep a lid on costs and be wary of hiring until they feel certain the economy is on solid ground.

You’ll be comforted to know that President Obama is “deeply concerned” that he won’t get re-elected that the unemployment percentage isn’t going down anytime soon, with many economists predicting a double-digit figure by the end of summer. We’ll add this to the other events Obama is “deeply concerned” about, including but not limited to the Iranian election violence, the ongoing missile tests in North Korea, and the coup in Honduras.

June’s payroll reductions were deeper than the 363,000 that economists expected and average weekly earnings dropped to the lowest level in nearly a year.

However, the rise in the unemployment rate from 9.4 percent in May wasn’t as sharp as the expected 9.6 percent. Still, many economists predict the jobless rate will hit 10 percent this year, and keep rising into next year, before falling back.

All told, 14.7 million people were unemployed in June.

The good news is that the chance of amnesty passing this year dwindles as the unemployment figure rises. It’s kind of hard to sell Americans on the idea that million of illegal aliens are doing the jobs Americans won’t when, you know, millions of Americans are looking for jobs.

If laid-off workers who have given up looking for new jobs or have settled for part-time work are included, the unemployment rate would have been 16.5 percent in June, the highest on records dating to 1994.

“We were on the road of things getting less bad in the jobs market, and that has been temporarily waylaid,” said economist Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics. “But this doesn’t change my view that the recession will end later this year. We’re probably two months away.”

The Dow Jones is down 177 points as I post this.