The worst recession since World War II? Shaping up that way

Kevin G. Hall
McClatchy Newspapers

last updated: March 06, 2009

WASHINGTON — The government's report Friday of an 8.1 percent unemployment rate equals the jobless number that the Obama administration has projected for the entire year. Few economists think that optimistic projection will hold, and many think that more big job losses are likely, with grim implications for the housing and banking crises.

Employers shed another 651,000 jobs in February, the Labor Department said Friday, pushing the nation's unemployment rate up from 7.6 percent to 8.1 percent. That's the highest jobless rate in a quarter-century and a clear sign that the deep U.S. economic recession isn't abating.

The monthly Employment Situation Summary also revised the jobs numbers for December and January downward, for a combined 161,000 more lost jobs than had been reported earlier. This pointed to a steeper economic contraction early this year than all but the gloomiest forecasters had projected.

Underscoring the rapid pace of decline, the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that payroll employment has fallen by 2.6 million people in the past four months alone. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed has increased by about 5 million. Some 12.5 million Americans are now jobless.

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