WASHINGTON, Nov 7: US President George W. Bush on Friday warned that it would take time for federal stimulus measures to have their full economic effect amid news of steep job losses.

The US unemployment rate rose to its highest level since 1994 in October, official data showed on Friday, with analysts forecasting it to increase further in Barack Obama’s first year as president. The Labour Department said the jobless rate rose to 6.5 per cent as the world’s largest economy shed 240,000 jobs during the month amid the credit squeeze and downturn.

Bush said in a statement that “monthly job report numbers ... reflect the difficult challenges confronting our economy.

“We are in the midst of a global financial crisis, and tight credit markets have made it harder for businesses to borrow the money they need to meet their payrolls, grow, and create new jobs,” Bush said. “The Federal government has taken aggressive and decisive measures to address this situation,” Bush said. “It will take time for these measures to have their full impact on an economy in which many Americans are struggling.”

Still the US president said “in recent days, we have seen some encouraging signs. The market for lending between banks has loosened considerably, and the Federal Reserve’s efforts to stabilise the commercial paper market have provided businesses with an urgently needed source of financing for day-to-day operations.”—AFP