I cannot help but wonder how bad can singapore get. One thing for sure, it will get worse before getting better.
US economy sheds 524,000 jobs in December; jobless rate hits 7.2%
Posted: 09 January 2009 2141 hrs
WASHINGTON : US employers shed a massive 524,000 jobs in December, pushing unemployment to a 16-year high of 7.2 percent, according to data Friday suggesting the worst recession in decades may be deepening.
The ailing economy shed 2.6 million jobs over the course of 2008, the most since 1945, the US Labour Department said in its monthly update. Of those, 1.9 million were lost in the past four months.
The Labour Department also revised higher the number of job losses for the prior two months. The October figure was changed to show a loss of 423,000 jobs from 320,000 and November's data to a loss of 584,000 from 533,000.
The jobless rate, which is calculated on a separate household survey, climbed to 7.2 percent from 6.8 percent a month earlier, hitting the highest level since January 1993, the report showed.
The brutal acceleration of job losses suggests a vicious downward cycle for the world's biggest economy, analysts said.
The report, seen as perhaps the best indicator of economic momentum, "suggests that both the US economy and job market fell off a cliff" at the end of 2008, said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight.
Behravesh said he expects "the jobs haemorrhage to continue through much of 2009" at a heavy pace and to ease if a large economic stimulus package can be enacted quickly.
"Nevertheless, the current pace of job losses means that the unemployment rate will rise into the 9.0 to 9.5 percent range at a minimum before levelling off," Behravesh said.
Yet some economists said the report showed the pace of job losses may have peaked as companies retrench and cut as much as possible.
"That scene wasn't as bloody as expected," said Jennifer Lee at BMO Capital Markets.
Some analysts had expected a far worse figure after a survey by payrolls firm ADP showing the private sector lost 693,000 jobs in December.
"The report is obviously terrible," said Cary Leahey, senior economist at Decision Economics.
"The only silver lining is that the pace of job declines is so severe that the market may conclude that the pace of adjustment will slow in the first quarter," he said.
John Ryding at RDQ Economics said the report "adds to the pressure to upsize the package" of economic stimulus being prepared by president-elect Barack Obama.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid said lawmakers need to move quickly on a plan to revive the economy.
"If anyone needed more evidence of how urgently we must pass an economic recovery plan that creates jobs, invests in America and puts the middle class first, you need to look no further than today's staggering job-loss numbers," Reid said in a statement.
"Only by working together in a bipartisan fashion can we put Americans back to work and get our economy back on track."
The number of job losses was roughly in line with forecasts but the unemployment rate rose above the consensus estimate of 7.0 percent.
The number of unemployed rose to 11.1 million in December, the data showed.
The figures come as the US economy is gripped by the worst recession in decades, which began in December 2007 after a collapse of a house bubble and massive financial sector losses that led to a credit crunch.
In December, a large portion of the losses came in manufacturing, which shed 149,000 in the month and 791,000 in the year, with the auto sector hard hit.
But the service sector, which accounts for some 80 percent of employment, fared even worse, with 273,000 jobs lost in the month.
Construction jobs fell by 101,000 in December, and has fallen by 899,000 since peaking in September 2006.
The retail sector shed 67,000 jobs in December and 522,000 for all of 2008. More than half of the losses in 2008 occurred in the last four months of the year.
Another indicator of the labour situation, the average workweek, fell by 0.2 hour to 33.3 hours, the lowest level since recording of the data began in 1964.
"This is not a good sign for future employment trends, as employers tend to cut hours before workers," said analysts at Briefing.com.
- AFP/ir/ls
US economy sheds 524,000 jobs in December; jobless rate hits 7.2%
Posted: 09 January 2009 2141 hrs
WASHINGTON : US employers shed a massive 524,000 jobs in December, pushing unemployment to a 16-year high of 7.2 percent, according to data Friday suggesting the worst recession in decades may be deepening.
The ailing economy shed 2.6 million jobs over the course of 2008, the most since 1945, the US Labour Department said in its monthly update. Of those, 1.9 million were lost in the past four months.
The Labour Department also revised higher the number of job losses for the prior two months. The October figure was changed to show a loss of 423,000 jobs from 320,000 and November's data to a loss of 584,000 from 533,000.
The jobless rate, which is calculated on a separate household survey, climbed to 7.2 percent from 6.8 percent a month earlier, hitting the highest level since January 1993, the report showed.
The brutal acceleration of job losses suggests a vicious downward cycle for the world's biggest economy, analysts said.
The report, seen as perhaps the best indicator of economic momentum, "suggests that both the US economy and job market fell off a cliff" at the end of 2008, said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight.
Behravesh said he expects "the jobs haemorrhage to continue through much of 2009" at a heavy pace and to ease if a large economic stimulus package can be enacted quickly.
"Nevertheless, the current pace of job losses means that the unemployment rate will rise into the 9.0 to 9.5 percent range at a minimum before levelling off," Behravesh said.
Yet some economists said the report showed the pace of job losses may have peaked as companies retrench and cut as much as possible.
"That scene wasn't as bloody as expected," said Jennifer Lee at BMO Capital Markets.
Some analysts had expected a far worse figure after a survey by payrolls firm ADP showing the private sector lost 693,000 jobs in December.
"The report is obviously terrible," said Cary Leahey, senior economist at Decision Economics.
"The only silver lining is that the pace of job declines is so severe that the market may conclude that the pace of adjustment will slow in the first quarter," he said.
John Ryding at RDQ Economics said the report "adds to the pressure to upsize the package" of economic stimulus being prepared by president-elect Barack Obama.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid said lawmakers need to move quickly on a plan to revive the economy.
"If anyone needed more evidence of how urgently we must pass an economic recovery plan that creates jobs, invests in America and puts the middle class first, you need to look no further than today's staggering job-loss numbers," Reid said in a statement.
"Only by working together in a bipartisan fashion can we put Americans back to work and get our economy back on track."
The number of job losses was roughly in line with forecasts but the unemployment rate rose above the consensus estimate of 7.0 percent.
The number of unemployed rose to 11.1 million in December, the data showed.
The figures come as the US economy is gripped by the worst recession in decades, which began in December 2007 after a collapse of a house bubble and massive financial sector losses that led to a credit crunch.
In December, a large portion of the losses came in manufacturing, which shed 149,000 in the month and 791,000 in the year, with the auto sector hard hit.
But the service sector, which accounts for some 80 percent of employment, fared even worse, with 273,000 jobs lost in the month.
Construction jobs fell by 101,000 in December, and has fallen by 899,000 since peaking in September 2006.
The retail sector shed 67,000 jobs in December and 522,000 for all of 2008. More than half of the losses in 2008 occurred in the last four months of the year.
Another indicator of the labour situation, the average workweek, fell by 0.2 hour to 33.3 hours, the lowest level since recording of the data began in 1964.
"This is not a good sign for future employment trends, as employers tend to cut hours before workers," said analysts at Briefing.com.
- AFP/ir/ls
