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Massive Unemployment Rate- 7.2%

January 9, 2009

It seems to only get worse by the month. The U.S. lost 524,000 jobs in December, making last year’s collapse in employment the worst since the end of World War II and underscoring the severity of the recession. Bush got an unexpected war and Obama gets an unexpected failing economy.

Who Wants Cheaper Auto Insurance?

All of those 2008 campaign promises will have to step aside.

The decline in payrolls was in line with forecasts and followed a drop of 584,000 in November, bringing job losses for 2008 to 2.589 million, the most since 1945, according to a Labor Department report today in Washington. The jobless rate rose more than forecast to 7.2 percent, a 15-year high, from 6.8 percent.

he outlook for 2009 is no brighter as retailers from Wal- Mart Stores Inc. to Macy’s Inc. slash profit forecasts and manufacturers including Alcoa Inc. cut output and staff. The figures will intensify pressure on U.S. lawmakers to speed Obama’s proposed fiscal stimulus through Congress in an effort to save or create 3 million jobs.

“We’re seeing pretty ugly numbers as the recession is worsening,” Michael Gregory, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto, said before the report. “It’s going to be devastating in terms of consumer confidence and spending. The next couple of months will be dismal.”

Dismal? How about damned difficult!

Obama is pressing for a stimulus plan of about $775 billion, including tax cuts and spending on everything from roads and schools to the energy network. Yesterday he called for “dramatic action as soon as possible” to help pull the world’s largest economy out of a slump that’s into its second year. “If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years,” Obama said in Fairfax, Virginia.

With today’s report, Labor revised figures from its household survey, which includes the unemployment rate, going back five years. Benchmark revisions to the payroll figures will be announced in February. Last month’s decline was the 12th consecutive drop

When do we finally hit bottom?

Written by Ernie · Filed Under Daily Commentary 

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