Dwayne Speller, 22, waits to talk to a counselor at the Nevada Jobconnect Career Center in Las Vegas, Friday, March 6, 2009. The nation's unemployment rate bolted to 8.1 percent in February, the highest since late 1983, as cost-cutting employers slashed 651,000 jobs amid a deepening recession.
Looking On The Bright Side
President Barack Obama smiles during the Columbus Police Graduation Exercises in Columbus, Ohio, Friday, March 6, 2009. On a day when the nation's jobless rate reached 8.1 percent, Mr. Obama insisted that he "did the right thing" with the $787 billion economic recovery plan. While noting what he called an "astounding" number of job losses in February, he told critics of his economic recovery plan that it is saving jobs.
Taking Off
President Barack Obama boards Air Force One to depart Columbus, Ohio, Friday, March 6, 2009. Mr. Obama is expected to sign an executive order on Monday reversing restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The long-expected move is likely to stir up not only the promise of scientific breakthrough but also the controversy over where government crosses a moral line.
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Traders and specialists work the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, March 6, 2009. Stocks soared, sank and then clawed their way back to a mixed close Friday after the Labor Department released its February jobs report. Still, the major indexes remained down sharply for the week and near 12-year lows.
Face Plant
Germany's Helge Schwarzer falls as Britain's Allan Scott, left, and Germany's Erik Balnuweit flank him, during the Men's 60m hurdles semifinal, at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Turin, Italy, Friday, March 6, 2009.
Full Load
A Pakistani man drives his motorcycle carrying children on it along a street in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Friday, March 6, 2009.
No-Man's Land
A woman walks over parched land at Basudevpur village in the Bhadrak district, about 81 miles northeast from Bhubaneswar, India, Friday, March 6, 2009.
Children At Play
Children play on top of rocky desert cliffs in Sakhir, Bahrain, at sunset Friday, March 6, 2009.