Carnage continues with 524,000 jobs lost in December – MarketWatch
by Tom on January 9, 2009
in Market Musings
WASHINGTON MarketWatch — The U.S. economy lost 524,000 jobs in December, closing out the worst year for job losses since World War II, the Labor Department said Friday.
Nearly 2.6 million jobs were lost in 2008, with 1.9 million destroyed in just the past four months, according to a survey of work places. It’s the biggest job loss in any calendar year since 1945, when 2.75 million jobs were lost as the wartime economy was demobilized.
The unemployment rate rose to 7.2%, the highest in 16 years. Unemployment increased by 632,000 to 11.1 million, according to the survey of households. That same household survey showed employment falling by 806,000 in December.
Carnage continues with 524,000 jobs lost in December – MarketWatch.
Tom here – the numbers are ugly, but remember what I’ve said before. It’s not so much a matter of how bad the numbers are, it’s a matter of the difference between expectations and reality. The market expected things to be about this bad, so I don’t expect a huge reaction from the mortgage market.
Stay tuned…..
