US Unemployment Rate At 25-Year High

by Rachel Nixon | March 6, 2009 at 10:20 am

556 views | 23 Recommendations | 6 comments

The US jobless rate reached 8.1% in February - a bigger jump than expected.

According to the US Labor Department, the number of people out of work rose by 651,000 last month. The unemployment rate is the highest since December 1983.

In addition, the number of job cuts in both December and January were revised upwards by more than 160,000.

President Obama said that the number of jobs lost so far in the recession was "astounding".

Speaking in Ohio, he added: "I don't need to tell the people of this state what statistics like this mean," saying that he had signed his economic stimulus package in order to save jobs.

The extra 161,000 jobs added to December and January's figures mean that almost two million jobs have been lost in the past three months.

A total of 12.5 million people are now unemployed in the US.

Economists say that the losses over the past three months are the worst since the end of World War II.

"We're in freefall at the moment and you can't see any sign of improvement here," said Nigel Gault, senior US economist at IHS Global Insight. "These declines are unprecedented. The last time we had three months in a row of job losses over 600,000 was in 1945."

Jobs were lost across a range of employment sectors.

Worst-hit employment sectors in February include factories, which axed 168,000 jobs, and the construction industry, where 104,000 were lost. Professional services shed 180,000 jobs, retailers cut 40,000 and financial companies reduced their payrolls by 44,000. The only areas showing a modest rise in employment were health, education and the government.

Most US commentators expect a deepening slump in gross domestic product in the first half of the year, with stabilisation unlikely until the final quarter at the earliest. "Companies are reducing workers and output in order to bring inventories into line with weak sales," said Greg Thayer, senior economist at Wachovia Securities in St Louis.

0 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

Swan

at 11:47 on March 6th, 2009

Hi Rachel,

This report is certainly sounding the death knell in the U.S (and other countries) and I've heard from every quarter that it's not going to get better any time soon.

As bad as it for the working population now - this is going to have a devastating effect on our college graduates this year. The only jobs that will definitely be available to them will be 'flipping burgers' at McDonalds or working at one of the department stores who are actively looking for more staff.

I don't think that there is anything wrong with these jobs per se, but they certainly aren't the kinds of jobs for which people attend college.

This economic crisis is not going to go away. Perhaps if it was located only in the U.S., there could have been some kind of resolution over a particular period, but this is a world economy collapse, which will have far reaching consequences for years to come.
~ Swan

deertay (not verified)

at 09:07 on April 7th, 2009

Give me a break mommy and daddy more than likely put you through school. I have had too work for everything I got. Ya I have gone onto School but I did it on my own. Sometimes you have too take a job that you may not like but at least you can get a job. These companies around here are willing to give a College student a job before they will give Joe off the street a job and you sit on your computer and type B.S. like that give me a break.

harringtola

at 12:18 on March 6th, 2009

These numbers do not even include people who have dropped off the radar of unemployment as their time has run out or who were never on as they have been in school up to this point. It is much worse than they can report.

Tomitheos

at 19:30 on March 8th, 2009

grim results

but good info and details

well done piece, good work!

MariaC

at 19:09 on April 2nd, 2009

Unemployment rate has increased since recession has hit United States in December 2007. The economic crisis that we have today has resulted loss of jobs to millions of people. Today Pres. Obama has come up with the Cash for Clunkers program. He is trying to get dealerships to offer a great cash advance for trading in older vehicles. The idea here is to motivate people to buy vehicles with greater fuel efficiency, or use public transportation. We're entering an age of green practices, and driving around a Pontiac Bonneville the size of an elephant just isn't the greatest idea any more. At any rate, those of us that wish to dispossess ourselves of a gas hog in lieu of something that is a bit lighter on the wallet, Cash for Clunkers might be just what the doctor ordered.

PIM of SPAIN

at 10:54 on April 4th, 2009

Sorry but cash for clunkers may ease a little but won't solve the economic downturn, as long policymakers do not recognize that the world is in a depression and not in a recession, matters are getting unnecessary worse. It is not a matter of liquidity to get people on a shopping spree, but production output is 30% too high and should be restructured first before light at the end of tunnel can be seen. People won't shop big items unless they are credit worthy to be able to borrow money, in th event they don't have the cash.

Electric cars is a hype, centrals that generate electricity from coal are worse than the tailpipe fumes from cars. Besides those are far more expensive than conventional ones. For the time being we have to count with more layoffs. Sad but true!