The new figures, released by the Labor Department Friday, showed the crucial employment market deteriorating at an alarmingly rapid clip, and handed Americans some more grim news right before the European "holiday" Xmas.
I can see families already going to the dollar store for gifts this year. Five bucks for all five of your family members...it's the thought that counts (funny...no...?). Got a big family; 15 bucks!
The financial squeeze is being felt globally. You would think maybe all the countries would come together to have one global financial market in this type of break down.
533,000 in one month!
Where to Go in a Rough Economy
"These numbers are shocking," said economist Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economics Advisers. "Companies are sharply reacting to the economy's problems and slashing costs. They are not trying to ride it out."
The unemployment rate would have moved even higher if not for the exodus of 422,000 people from the work force. Economists thought many of those people probably abandoned their job searches out of sheer frustration. In November 2007, the jobless rate was at 4.7 percent.
The U.S. tipped into recession last December, a panel of experts declared earlier this week, confirming what many Americans already thought.
Since the start of the recession, the economy has lost 1.9 million jobs, the number of unemployed people increased by 2.7 million and the jobless rate rose by 1.7 percentage points.
Bundle up it may be a cold winter even in warm climates.
Randall Watson reporting
Chicago Funnies