Payroll employment falls 524,000, Unemployment rate hits 7.2%

[pinqy]

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf">THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: DECEMBER 2008

Nonfarm payroll employment declined sharply in December, and the unemployment rate rose from 6.8 to 7.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment fell by 524,000 over the month and by 1.9 million over the last 4 months of 2008. In December, job losses were large and widespread across most major industry sectors.