Recession? Employers in U.S. cut jobs for the third straight month as unemployment
reaches nearly three-year high.
What most people have seemed to acknowledge for several months, government leaders
are finally daring to admit -- the triple effects of a housing collapse, a credit
crunch, and a financial system in turmoil -- have led us to an ugly economic situation
that has resulted in a weak job market with limited prospects.
The Labor Department announced today a net loss of 80,000 jobs in March, which
marks the third straight month that jobs have fallen -- the longest period of losses
since early 2003 -- and now estimates that the economy has lost 232,000 jobs in
the first three months of this year.
Job losses were widespread across professions/occupations, with the construction sector
losing 51,000 jobs, manufacturing 48,000 jobs, business
and professional service 35,000 jobs, and retail employment 12,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate jumped to 5.1 percent from 4.8 percent in February -- the highest
level since May 2005.
Some economists expect the job losses to continue through at least August while
others say that job losses could easily continue into 2009.
The other issue is the number of people who are only working part-time who want to
work full-time, but cannot find full-time employment... and those numbers have also
spiked in the last few months.
The news is not all doom and gloom, as there are pockets of positive job growth, but
the overall weakness of the job market affects employer outlooks and future hiring.
Increases in jobs were found in education, healthcare, leisure and hospitality,
as well as in government hiring.
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