BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Thousands of Argentines traveled to areligious shrine Monday, some tearfully raising stalks of wheatsymbolizing jobs gained, to give thanks for an improving economy thathas cut the unemployment rate to close to single digits for the firsttime in 13 years.
Four years after the worst economic crisis on record shattered thejob market in South America's second-largest economy, Argentines madetheir annual pilgrimage to a Roman Catholic Church of San Cayetano --a saint revered as the patron of bread, jobs and prosperity.
Many of the worshippers said they were thankful for an economy onthe mend but still worried about the future.
President Nestor Kirchner inherited an economy in tatters when hetook power three years ago. A 2002 financial meltdown brought hunger,despair and an unemployment rate that shot above 21 percent.
Kirchner said the rate for the second quarter of 2006 was 10.4percent, down from 11.4 in the first quarter.
ST. CAJETAN STARTED BANK
"I've come to give thanks that things are getting better and thatour economy seems to be slowly returning to normal," said 66-year-old retired schoolteacher Nelida Burdazco.
Known in English as St. Cajetan, San Cayetano died in Naples in1547. Among his works was the founding of a bank to help the poor andoffer an alternative to loan sharks.
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