Job Losses Accelerating To Levels Not Seen Since World War II
Jeannine Aversa - Associated Press
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009
WASHINGTON -- By the hundreds of thousands now, Americans are getting the awful news: You've lost your job. And there's almost no place to land.
A staggering 2.6 million jobs disappeared in 2008, the most since World War II, and the pain is only getting worse, with 11.1 million people out of work and searching.
A half-million jobs evaporated in December alone, while unemployment hit a 16-year high of 7.2 percent and seemed to be headed for 10 percent or even higher by year's end.
"There is no indication that the job situation would stabilize anytime soon," said Sung Won Sohn, economist at the Martin Smith School of Business at California State University.
"This could turn out to be one of the worst economic setbacks since the Great Depression," he said.
Friday's government figures were "a stark reminder," said President-elect Barack Obama, that bold and immediate government action is needed to revive a national economy that's deep in recession and still sinking.
"Behind the statistics that we see flashing on the screens are real lives, real suffering, real fears," said Obama, already moving full-speed with Congress to put together an emergency revival plan a week and a half before taking office.
It's real, indeed, for 38-year-old Rachel Davis of St. Louis.
"If you get laid off right now, God help your soul," she said. "You better hope you've got savings or someone backing you."
In fact, she was laid off three months ago after working as a dental technician for 20 years.
While Congress and the new president struggle to find answers, she says, "I have no faith in this system" and plans to move out of the country in hopes of finding better luck.
The recession, which just entered its second year, is already the longest in a quarter-century and is likely to stretch well into 2009.
The fact that the country is battling a housing collapse, a lockup in lending and the worst financial crisis since the 1930s makes the downturn especially dangerous.
All the problems have forced consumers and companies alike to retrench, feeding into a vicious cycle that Washington policymakers are finding difficult to break.
Investors, too. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 143 points Friday to end the week down nearly 5 percent, the worst week since November.
The Labor Department's unemployment report showed widespread damage across U.S. industries and workers -- hitting blue-collar and white-collar workers, people without high school diplomas and those with college degrees.
"One word comes to mind -- dreadful," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group.
And there's no relief in sight. The new year got off to a rough start with a flurry of big corporate layoffs, and there were more on Friday:
Airplane maker Boeing Co. said it plans to cut about 4,500 jobs this year.
Uniform maker G&K Services Inc. is eliminating 460 jobs.
Employers also are cutting workers' hours and forcing some to go part-time.
The average work week in December fell to 33.3 hours, the lowest in records dating to 1964 and a sign of more job reductions in the months ahead since businesses tend to cut hours before eliminating positions entirely.
By the numbers
Currently: The unemployment rate is 7.2 percent, highest in 16 years. About 11.1 million people are unemployed.
What's next: Economists predict 1.5 million to 2 million or more jobs will vanish in 2009.