US Employers Cut 80,000 Jobs in March

witchofthedogs · #1 04-04-2008, 03:11 PM

From MSNBC.com:

U.S. employers cut 80,000 jobs in March
Most jobs lost in five years; unemployment rate at 5.1 percent

WASHINGTON - Employers buffeted by talk of recession slashed 80,000 jobs in March, the most in five years and the third straight month of losses.
At the same time, the national unemployment rate rose from 4.8 percent to 5.1 percent, the clearest signal yet that the economy might already be shrinking.

The new snapshot of the job market, released by the Labor Department Friday, underscored the damage that a trio of crises —in the housing, credit and financial sectors — has inflicted on companies, jobseekers and the economy as a whole.

“The labor market has indeed turned south,” said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. “That was the one last bastion of hope to stay out of a recession. Now the question is how deep and how long will it last?”

The unemployment rate was the highest since September 2005, when significant job losses followed the devastating blows of Gulf Coast hurricanes.
Job losses were widespread in March. Construction, manufacturing, retailing, financial services and various business services all racked up losses. That overwhelmed gains elsewhere, including in education and health care, leisure and hospitality as well as in government.

The new employment figures were much weaker than economists were expecting. They were anticipating a drop of 50,000 payroll jobs and the unemployment rate to rise to 5 percent.

The 5.1 percent rate, while relatively modest by historical standards, was the highest in 2½ years.

Job cuts in both January and February turned out to be even deeper. Employers got rid of 76,000 in each month. The elimination of 80,000 jobs in March was the most since March 2003, when the labor market was still struggling to recover from the 2001 recession.

For more of this story, go to: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23953769/

From further on in the article:

In March, construction companies cut 51,000 jobs, factories eliminated 48,000 positions, retailers cut payrolls by more than 12,000. Professional and businesses services lost 35,000 jobs and temporary help firms cut nearly 22,000 jobs. Financial firms chopped 5,000 jobs.

When government hiring was removed, the numbers looked even worse. Private employers shed 98,000 jobs in March.

Kid Lester · #2 04-04-2008, 03:18 PM

What's gonna happen if the next President actually does "bring the troops home"?

Where the hell are they gonna work?

Tracy · #3 04-04-2008, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kid Lester

What's gonna happen if the next President actually does "bring the troops home"?

Where the hell are they gonna work?

Ok KL....you have got to stop making sense and scaring me.

Spyder08 · #4 04-04-2008, 03:20 PM

The job market sucks. I've been laid off since the end of January and have yet to find anything. The few jobs I have stumbled across were a joke. 12.00 an hour and bachelor's degree required. I make more than that on unemployment. Hopefully, I will find something soon. I'm so bored at home. THere is only so much cleaning, working out, laundry, etc. you can do in a day.

Panama Girl · #5 04-04-2008, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kid Lester

What's gonna happen if the next President actually does "bring the troops home"?

Where the hell are they gonna work?

How about they work on the U.S. highway system? There's a lot of roads out there needing patching or major work.

Hey, it worked for the Romans, didn't it?

Tracy · #6 04-04-2008, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeCurlyGirl

Ok KL....you have got to stop making sense and scaring me.

that didn't sound right....I didn't mean that it scared me that you were making sense....I meant that I'm scared that there won't be any jobs for the people coming home from the war

M.Opaliski · #7 04-04-2008, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kid Lester

What's gonna happen if the next President actually does "bring the troops home"?

Where the hell are they gonna work?

Regardless of who is elected in November no one is going to "bring them home" in the sense that you're talking about. Hell, as candidates they're not talking about it in the sense that you're talking about it. And, bringing home a small number of troops if any at all doesn't equate to them fullfilling any misconstrued campaign promise, but don't let that get in the way in of championing for your guy, or gal ...

frogman68 · #8 04-04-2008, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeCurlyGirl

that didn't sound right....I didn't mean that it scared me that you were making sense....I meant that I'm scared that there won't be any jobs for the people coming home from the war

The soldiers coming home arent just kicked out of the military if there is time left on there contract they will go to there duty station now if there contract is up and they dont reenlist then they will need to find a job

__________________
"When faced with facts and truths do the Democratic thing, Ignore them they will go away" Me
Senator Obama what is your experience ?
I have been in the Senate for a total of 1347 days of which 600 of them have been running for President of the United States I have introduced 121 pieces of Legislation of which 116 never made it out of committee's and 2 passed. I have released 6 books and one cd in that time.
Oh that is not good enough? I was also a community organizer I am good at pushing buttons

M.Opaliski · #9 04-04-2008, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyder08

The job market sucks. I've been laid off since the end of January and have yet to find anything. The few jobs I have stumbled across were a joke. 12.00 an hour and bachelor's degree required. I make more than that on unemployment. Hopefully, I will find something soon. I'm so bored at home. THere is only so much cleaning, working out, laundry, etc. you can do in a day.

Yeah, shudder the thought of working for $12/hr when you can sit home and get paid for nothing, and then complain about it to boot ...