Record jobs losses prompt consumer concern

12.06.08
By Nicholas Storie

In the week officials finally acknowledged the country was in recession, further negative news in the jobs market will give increasing cause for concern to the ordinary person wondering how to balance the books in the run-up to Christmas or pay down mounting credit card debt.

According to Labor Department figures, U.S. employers laid off 533,000 workers during the month of November - the highest monthly loss in over three decades.

"These numbers are shocking," Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economics Advisors, told the Associated Press. "Companies are sharply reacting to the economy's problems and slashing costs. They are not trying to ride it out."

Some experts insist the pattern of job loss over the entirety of 2008 has been indicative of the flagging state of the national economy.

"The unrelenting, month-by-month loss of American jobs throughout 2008 provides a revealing snapshot of our path into this recession," comments University of Maryland economist Peter Morici.

Responding to the data, President Bush today expressed concern for the workers who had lost jobs as a result of the current downturn.

With November's unemployment rate jumping by 6.7 percent - the biggest single increase in 34 years - the economic challenges continue to stack up for the incoming Obama presidency.

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Job losses hit record high for November