US Sees Worst Decline in Jobs Since 2003

Payrolls dropped by 63,000; recession fears intensify

By Jim O'Neill, Newser User

Posted Mar 7, 2008 7:58 AM CST

(Newser) – The US lost 63,000 jobs in February, the second straight month payrolls contracted and the worst drop since 2003, catching economists off guard and fanning fears of recession anew, Bloomberg reports. Economists hoped the economy would add 23,000 jobs after declining a modest 17,000 in January, when the unemployment rate rose to 4.9%.

The Labor Department said the jobless rate actually declined to 4.8% last month, indicating the market was so bad that some unemployed workers had stopped looking for work. Adding to the woes: Labor revised downward by 50% earlier figures showing 82,000 jobs were added in December. February hourly wages rose 0.3% to $17.80 as expected. February’s biggest jobs changes:

Manufacturing: -52,000
Building: -39,000
Retail: -34,100
Service: +26,000
Government: +38,000

[Images (3)]

[Videos (1)]

An unemployed man talks on the phone with a state unemployment worker at the state unemployment and career office in San Francisco, Friday, Dec. 7, 2007. The employment rate continued to decline into... (Associated Press)

Workers erect scaffolding in Albany, N.Y., Friday, Nov. 2, 2007. "All the lights are flashing red," said said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Mass. "We're in a... (Associated Press)

Unemployed people wait in line at the California Employment Development Department in San Jose, Calif., in this Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008 file photo. The U.S. lost jobs in February for the second consecutive... (Associated Press)

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US Sees Worst Decline in Jobs Since 2003