The Labor Department released its December unemployment statistics yesterday, and--guess what--things are terrible out there. But, we knew that already. The loss of nearly 2.6 jobs last year makes it the worst since 1945, according to a Bloomberg story this morning.
From the Department of Labor report:
Nonfarm payroll employment declined sharply in December, and the unemployment
rate rose from 6.8 to 7.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S.
Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment fell by 524,000 over the
month and by 1.9 million over the last 4 months of 2008. In December, job losses
were large and widespread across most major industry sectors.
This news came the same day as President-Elect Obama's calls for an $800 billion stimulus package, which would include a middle-class tax cut as well as increased federal spending on education, infrastructure, and alternative energy. The plan has so far gotten a cool reception from Congress.
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