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US jobless rate now the highest in 25 years
Source: Agencies |
March 7, 2009, Saturday
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THE unemployment rate in the United States jumped to 8.1 percent in February, the highest since late 1983, as cost-cutting employers slashed 651,000 jobs amid the deepening recession.
"There is no light at the end of the tunnel with these numbers," said Nigel Gault, economist at IHS Global Insight. "Job losses were everywhere and there's no hope for a turnaround any time soon."
The net loss of 651,000 jobs in February came after even deeper payroll reductions in the prior two months, according to revised figures released yesterday.
The economy lost 681,000 jobs in December and another 655,000 in January.
Employers are shrinking their work forces and turning to other ways to slash costs - including trimming workers' hours, freezing wages or cutting pay - because the recession has eaten into their profits. Customers at home and abroad are cutting back as other countries cope with their own economic problems.
Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost 4.4 million jobs - more than half of which in the past four months.
The unemployment jumped to 8.1 percent from 7.6 percent in January. That was the highest since December 1983, when the jobless rate was 8.3 percent.
All told, the number of unemployed people climbed to 12.5 million. In addition, the number of people forced to work part time for "economic reasons" rose by a sharp 787,000 to 8.6 million.
If part-time, discouraged workers and others are factored in, the unemployment rate would have been 14.8 percent in February.
Meanwhile, the average work week in February stayed at 33.3 hours, matching the record low set last December.
The Senate, tied up in a fight over a huge omnibus appropriations bill, was expected to pass a stopgap spending measure by midnight yesterday in order to avoid a partial government shutdown. Midnight is when a temporary law that keeps the government in business, mostly at 2008 levels, expires.
"There is no light at the end of the tunnel with these numbers," said Nigel Gault, economist at IHS Global Insight. "Job losses were everywhere and there's no hope for a turnaround any time soon."
The net loss of 651,000 jobs in February came after even deeper payroll reductions in the prior two months, according to revised figures released yesterday.
The economy lost 681,000 jobs in December and another 655,000 in January.
Employers are shrinking their work forces and turning to other ways to slash costs - including trimming workers' hours, freezing wages or cutting pay - because the recession has eaten into their profits. Customers at home and abroad are cutting back as other countries cope with their own economic problems.
Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost 4.4 million jobs - more than half of which in the past four months.
The unemployment jumped to 8.1 percent from 7.6 percent in January. That was the highest since December 1983, when the jobless rate was 8.3 percent.
All told, the number of unemployed people climbed to 12.5 million. In addition, the number of people forced to work part time for "economic reasons" rose by a sharp 787,000 to 8.6 million.
If part-time, discouraged workers and others are factored in, the unemployment rate would have been 14.8 percent in February.
Meanwhile, the average work week in February stayed at 33.3 hours, matching the record low set last December.
The Senate, tied up in a fight over a huge omnibus appropriations bill, was expected to pass a stopgap spending measure by midnight yesterday in order to avoid a partial government shutdown. Midnight is when a temporary law that keeps the government in business, mostly at 2008 levels, expires.
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