(From the New York Times) Alan Greenspan,

the former chairman of the Federal Reserve board, said on Sunday that

the latest job report showing the nation's unemployment at 9.8 percent

was "pretty awful" and said he expected the figure to climb even higher.

"My own suspicion is that we're going to penetrate the 10 percent

barrier and stay there for a while before we start down," he said in an

appearance on "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" on ABC.

He said he was particularly concerned about data in the employment

report, released Friday, indicating that an increasing number of

Americans have been unemployed for more than six months. That number

increased in September by 450,000, reaching 5.4 million, according to

the report from the Labor Department.

Prolonged unemployment

means "the economy loses skills," Mr. Greenspan said. "And people who

are out of work for very protracted periods of time lose their skills

eventually."

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