84,000 Jobs Slashed in August

NPR reported this morning on last month's unemployment figures and updated numbers for June and July. Verbatim from their Web site:

August Unemployment At Five-Year High

The unemployment rate shot to a five-year high of 6.1 percent in August as employers slashed 84,000 jobs, according to a Labor Department report released Friday.

The report showed the increasing toll the housing, credit and financial crises are taking on the economy.

The jobless rate jumped to 6.1 percent in August, from 5.7 percent in July. And, employers cut payrolls for the eighth month in a row. Job losses in June and July turned out to be much deeper than first reported, with the economy losing a whopping 100,000 jobs in June and another 60,000 in July, according to revised figures.

With the employment situation deteriorating, there's growing worry that consumers will recoil, throwing the economy into a tailspin later this year or early next year.

Wachovia Corp., Ford Motor Co., Tyson Foods Inc. and Alcoa Inc. were among the companies announcing job cuts in August. GMAC Financial Services this week said it would lay off 5,000 workers.

 
posted by on 09/05/08 at 08:47 AM. [printer-friendly version]   

posted by L.W. on 09/08/08 at 04:53 PM