Richard Tafoya
Mar 7th, 2008, 09:40 PM
Marketwatch:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/payrolls-fall-63000-february/story.aspx?guid=%7BCFA890F9-76C2-4E4A-860D-9BFD57C3E1F0%7D&dist=MostReadHome
In the clearest suggestion yet of a recession, U.S. nonfarm payrolls fell by 63,000 in February, the second straight decline, the Labor Department reported Friday.
"Turn out the lights the party's over," wrote Joseph Brusuelas, U.S. chief economist for IDEAglobal. "We are in a recession."
It was the largest drop in payrolls since March 2003, when the economy was struggling through a jobless recovery.
The drop in payrolls was largely unexpected; economists were looking for a tepid gain of about 20,000 in the survey of business establishments.
In addition to February's dismal result, payrolls for December and January were revised down by 46,000.
The unemployment rate fell unexpectedly to 4.8% in February from 4.9%, but the decline didn't reflect strength in the jobs market, but rather was due to a 450,000 decline in the labor force, the largest drop in nearly five years.
'The data suggest that laid-off workers are discouraged and are giving up the job hunt for now," wrote Stephen Gallagher, U.S. economist for Societe Generale.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/payrolls-fall-63000-february/story.aspx?guid=%7BCFA890F9-76C2-4E4A-860D-9BFD57C3E1F0%7D&dist=MostReadHome
In the clearest suggestion yet of a recession, U.S. nonfarm payrolls fell by 63,000 in February, the second straight decline, the Labor Department reported Friday.
"Turn out the lights the party's over," wrote Joseph Brusuelas, U.S. chief economist for IDEAglobal. "We are in a recession."
It was the largest drop in payrolls since March 2003, when the economy was struggling through a jobless recovery.
The drop in payrolls was largely unexpected; economists were looking for a tepid gain of about 20,000 in the survey of business establishments.
In addition to February's dismal result, payrolls for December and January were revised down by 46,000.
The unemployment rate fell unexpectedly to 4.8% in February from 4.9%, but the decline didn't reflect strength in the jobs market, but rather was due to a 450,000 decline in the labor force, the largest drop in nearly five years.
'The data suggest that laid-off workers are discouraged and are giving up the job hunt for now," wrote Stephen Gallagher, U.S. economist for Societe Generale.