Most Economists Say Recession Is Here

Companies cut 190,000 jobs last month

(NEWSER) - Unemployment cracked the 10% barrier last month, as 190,000 workers lost their jobs, according to Labor Department figures released today. The bigger-than-expected losses bring the rate to 10.2%, a 26-year high. And the underemployment rate, which includes would-be full-timers working part time and those who've given up looking for work, hit a record high of 17.5%. “It is no surprise that consumer confidence is backpedaling, and the outlook for consumer spending is poor,” one economist tells Bloomberg. More»

(NEWSER) - Nonfarm payrolls plunged 598,000 in January, the Labor Department announced today, bringing the total job losses to 3.6 million since the recession began in December 2007. The drop was significantly worse than analysts anticipated, and the worst since December 1974, the Wall Street Journal reports. The jobless rate jumped to 7.6% for the month, a 16-year high. Included in the report were revisions showing that the US lost about 3 million jobs last year, up from the 2.6 million previously estimated. More»

Some 159,000 positions disappear

(AP) - Employers slashed payrolls by 159,000 in September, the most in more than 5 years and a worrisome sign that the economy is hurtling toward a deep recession. Today's snapshot also showed the nation's unemployment rate held steady at 6.1% as hundreds of thousands of people streamed out of the work force. It marked the 9th straight month that the economy has lost jobs. More»

August payroll drop shows subprime crisis affecting economy

(NEWSER) - In the first drop since 2003, the US lost 4,000 jobs in August, surprising experts and putting more pressure on the Fed to reduce rates at its upcoming meeting. Economists had predicted an increase of 100,000 or more jobs. The decline in employment is the clearest signal to date that the housing recession and credit crunch are hurting the broader economy, Bloomberg reports. More»

Forecast sees it at 8.6% at end of 2012

(NEWSER) - If President Obama were hoping for a quick election-year turnaround in the jobless rate, the Federal Reserve burst his bubble today. The Fed projected unemployment will be at 8.6% at the end of 2012, not much better than the 9.1% registered in September of this year, reports the Wall Street Journal . The projections don't get remarkably better after that: The Fed sees the rate at 8% by the end of 2013 and 7.7% the following year. More»