US slashes 5,33,000 jobs in Nov

[Imran Khan]

US slashes 5,33,000 jobs in Nov
Updated at: 2200 PST, Friday, December 05, 2008
WASHINGTON: Employers in the US slashed as many as 5,33,000 jobs in November, reportedly the highest employment losses in 34 years, as the world's largest economy reeled under a severe financial crisis.

The unemployment rate jumped to a 15-year high of 6.7 per cent last month, reflecting the strained labour market which has seen massive layoffs by many corporate giants.

"Non-farm payroll employment fell sharply (-533,000) in November, and the unemployment rate rose from 6.5 to 6.7 per cent," the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is part of the US Labor Department, said today in a statement.

The job losses, which widespread across major sectors, are reportedly the worst since December 1974.

Moreover, since the start of recession in December last year, as concluded by the National Bureau of Economic Research, 1.9 million people lost their jobs and two-thirds of the losses happened in the last three months.

"Total non-farm payroll employment fell by 5,33,000 in November, bringing losses to 1. 9 million since the start of the recession in December 2007. Two-thirds of these losses occurred in the last three months," the statement noted.

Since the beginning of recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed people rose by 2.7 million while the jobless rate increased by 1.7 percentage points.

According to the data, the jobless rate for Asians reached 4.8 per cent in November. In addition, jobless rates for teenagers was at 20.4 per cent, whites (6.1 percent), blacks (11.2 percent), and Hispanics (8.6 percent).

The unemployment rates for adult men stood at 6.5 per cent and that of adult women at 5.5 per cent in November

 

[sohailbutt]

this is the breakin point of a superpower in my view, Russia felt the strongest when it invaded Afghanistan, and America is on the same tracks, US thinks that it is the best when it comes to fighting other nations but to the whole world's surprise a bunch of terrorists (Al-Qaeda n other smaller groups) as US calls them, are responsible for breaking America as they did with Russia exactly 20 years ago

 

[Imran Khan]

U.S. job losses worst since 1974 as downturn deepens
Fri Dec 5, 2008 1:17pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers axed payrolls by 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years, as the year-old recession hammered the economy and hardened calls for dramatic government action to turn the tide.

The Labor Department on Friday said the unemployment rate hit 6.7 percent last month, the highest since 1993, which adds up to 10.3 million Americans out of work or 2 million more than the population of New York City.

The jobless rate, which stood at 6.5 percent in October, would have been even higher but for people leaving the labor force in discouragement over their search for work.

A slew of U.S. companies have announced jobs cuts this week, including phone giant AT&T, which said on Thursday it was letting 12,000 workers go, and economists expect the unemployment rate to top 8 percent by late next year.

"You can't get much uglier than this. The economy has just collapsed, and has gone into a free fall," said Richard Yamarone, chief economist at Argus Research in New York.

The U.S. government has pledged $700 billion of taxpayer money to shore up the banking sector and President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to push for a powerful fiscal stimulus, with more aggressive action from the Federal Reserve also in the cards.

The U.S. central bank has cut interest rates to 1 percent and is expected to lower them toward zero in the coming weeks. It is also deploying unconventional measures to buy government debt and lend directly to companies to stimulate activity.

Obama, who takes office on January 20, said the downturn demanded action, which economists say means a spending and tax plan costing between $500 billion and $700 billion.

"There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making, and it's likely to get worse before it gets better," Obama warned.

"This jobs picture painted today is staggering, and it should be all the evidence Washington needs to act swiftly and decisively to shore up this economy," said Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat who chairs the congressional Joint Economic Committee.

U.S. stock markets sagged on mounting evidence the country was locked in the worst recession in a generation, while oil priced retreated under $42 per barrel. Markets in Europe and Latin America fell in tandem on the woeful jobs report.

A worldwide credit crisis sparked by mounting defaults on U.S. mortgages has pushed economies around the globe into or toward recession. Canada said earlier on Friday its economy shed 70,600 jobs in November, the most since June 1982.

U.S. mortgage foreclosure levels hit a record in the third quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Friday, which estimates that 2.2 million home mortgages will start the foreclosure process this year before government efforts to stem the tide can gain traction.

U.S. job losses in November were the steepest since December 1974, when 602,000 jobs were shed, and were much worse than the consensus on Wall Street for a 340,000 reduction.

In addition, job losses in recent months turned out to be worse than previously reported. October's loss was revised to show a cut of 320,000, originally given as a 240,000 loss, while September's drop was revised to 403,000 from 284,000. Continued...

 

[metalfalcon]

Socialism failed, Communism Failed and this is how Capitalism Fails..