Worst year for jobs since '45

[marmar]

from CNN Money:



Worst year for jobs since '45
Annual loss biggest since end of World War II. Unemployment rate rises to 7.2%.

By David Goldman, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: January 9, 2009: 12:11 PM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The hemorrhaging of American jobs accelerated at a record pace at the end of 2008, bringing the year's total job losses to 2.6 million or the highest level in more than six decades.

A sobering U.S. Labor Department jobs report Friday showed the economy lost 524,000 jobs in December and 1.9 million in the year's final four months, after the credit crisis began in September.

The unemployment rate rose to 7.2% last month from 6.7% in November - its highest rate since January 1993.

The steep annual drop in jobs marked the highest yearly job-loss total since 1945, the year in which World War II ended.

"We're seeing a complete unraveling of the labor market and are on track for getting beyond 10% unemployment," said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute.

The total number of unemployed Americans rose by 632,000 to 11.1 million. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/09/news/economy/jobs_december/index.htm