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November U.S. nonfarm payrolls down 533,000, sharpest fall in 34 years(Kyodo News International (Tokyo) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 6--WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy lost 533,000 nonfarm jobs in November, the worst number in about 34 years, with the unemployment rate up to 6.7 percent, the highest level in about 15 years, the Labor Department said Friday. The decline, which was far above a loss of 280,000 jobs widely expected by analysts and market participants, suggests the real economy is continuing to suffer from the global financial storm stemming from the U.S. subprime mortgage meltdown. The October drop in nonfarm payrolls was revised upward to 320,000 from an initial 240,000, the department said in a preliminary report. The November decline was the biggest since December 1974, when employers trimmed 602,000. The latest jobless rate, the highest since October 1993 when it hit 6.8 percent, compares with 6.5 percent in October, 6.1 percent in September and August and 5.7 percent in July. Some economists expect the rate to rise above 8 percent by the end of next year. "Today's job data reflects the fact that our economy is in a recession," President George W. Bush said in brief remarks at the White House. "This is in large part because of severe problems in our housing, credit and financial markets, which have resulted in significant job losses," he said. Keith Hall, commissioner of the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, said in a statement that U.S. employers axed the payrolls "with large and widespread losses occurring across the major industry sectors." "About two-thirds of the recent job declines have occurred in the service-providing sector of the economy. In the first eight months of this year, job losses were largely limited to construction and manufacturing," he said. The department said the goods-producing sector cut 163,000 jobs in November, with construction employment falling by 82,000 jobs and the manufacturing sector eliminating 85,000 jobs. The services sector, generally the engine of job creation in the United States, lost 370,000 jobs after shedding a revised 153,000 jobs in October. In the sector, retailers shed 91,300 jobs, compared with a revised fall of 62,200 the previous month, while professional and business services, including providers of consulting, accounting and computer systems, lost 136,000 jobs. Education and health services added 52,000 jobs, while the government sector gained 7,000 jobs. The department said average hourly earnings, a key gauge of inflation, rose 7 cents to $18.30 in November. The manufacturing sector's average workweek came to 40.3 hours, down 0.2 hour from the preceding month. To see more of Kyodo News International, go to http://www.kyodonews.com Copyright (c) 2008, Kyodo News International, Tokyo Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |