Unemployment applications spike as U.S. has first decline in monthly job creation in
almost five years, as economy sputters.
In two separate reports, the Labor Department first announced that the number of people
applying for unemployment benefits increased by 69,000 to 375,000 -- the highest
level since October 2005.
In a second report, released this morning, the Labor Department announced that employers
cut 17,000 jobs in January -- the first monthly decline since August 2003. It was supposedly more shocking because some
analysts had expected an increase of as much of 80,000 new jobs -- but given all the news of layoffs and a weak
economy, it's amazing that anyone could have been predicting such high job growth.
Hardest hit industries were again both manufacturing and construction. Manufacturers cut 28,000 jobs in January -- the
19th straight month of cuts -- while the number of construction jobs dropped by 27,000 -- bringing to a total of 284,000
lost jobs since employment peaked in September 2006.
