The news should not come as any surprise that December brought an end to a brutal year for job losses in the U.S.According to a U.S. Labor Department report released today, the year's total job losses amounted to 2.6 million, marking the highest level in more than six decades.
The economy lost 524,000 jobs in December and 1.9 million in the year's final four months, following the credit crisis that began in September.
Noting more bad news, the unemployment rate increased to 7.2% last month from 6.7% in November - its highest rate since January 1993.
November, in which 584,000 jobs went by the wayside, and December marked the first time in the 70-year history of the report where the economy lost more than 500,000 jobs in consecutive months.Report highlights:
* Job losses spread across a large spectrum of industries. Manufacturing lost 149,000 jobs, the leisure and hospitality industries trimmed 22,000 jobs, and the mining industry removed 1,000 positions.
* Professional and business services jobs fell by 113,000. And financial services jobs fell by 14,000.
* A mere two of 10 industry categories were hiring in December. Government hiring, which has stayed relatively strong throughout the downturn, increased another 7,000 jobs in December. Education and health services also added payrolls by 45,000 employees.
* Construction employment dropped further by 101,000 jobs, and the rate of construction unemployment increased to 15.3%.
No comments:
Post a Comment