Feb. 6, 2009

U.S. employment plunged in January, a government report showed, bringing total job losses since the recession started in December 2007 to 3.6 million. Nonfarm payrolls, which are calculated by a survey of establishments, tumbled 598,000 in January, more than expected and the most since December 1974. The unemployment rate, which is calculated using a survey of households, jumped 0.4 percentage point to 7.6%, the highest since September 1992.


posted by Peter Greene