Sunday, October 5, 2008

159,000 Jobs Lost in September - Highest in 5 Years

In September, 159,000 were slashed — more than double the cuts made one month before. It was the ninth straight month of job losses. For the first eight months of the year, the economy lost an average of about 75,000 jobs each month.

A staggering 760,000 jobs have been lost since January.

The Labor Department's report, released October 3, 2008, also showed that the nation's unemployment rate was 6.1 percent, up sharply from 4.7 percent a year ago. Over the last year, the number of unemployed people has risen by 2.2 million to 9.5 million.

The government’s monthly snapshot of the labor market detailed a relentless assortment of woes afflicting American working families.

Job cuts in September:
  • Manufacturing - 51,000 (442,000 lost in 2008; 4 million since 1999)
  • Retailers - 35,000
  • Construction - 35,000
  • Transportation and Warehousing - 16,000
  • Financial Services - 17,000 (172,000 since employment peaked in that part of the economy in December 2006). And that was before the bankruptcy of the Wall Street titan, Lehman Brothers; the bailout of the mortgage financiers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; the fire sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America; the near disintegration of the insurance giant American International Group; and the government takeover and sale of Washington Mutual.

The rare instances of job gains in September:

  • Health Care - 17,000
  • Mining - 8,000

The unemployment rate could hit 7 or 7.5 percent by late 2009. If that happens, it would mark the highest since after the 1990-91 recession. Some economists say the jobless rate could rise even more before the situation starts to get better.

Job Losses in September 2008