EMPLOYERS CUT 533k JOBS IN NOVEMBER, MOST IN 34 YEARS

EMPLOYERS CUT 533K JOBS IN NOVEMBER, MOST IN 34 YEARS
WASHINGTON-SKITTISH EMPLOYERS SLASHED 533,000 JOBS IN NOVEMBER. THE MOST IN 34 YEARS, CATAPULTING THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE TO 6.7 PERCENT, DRAMATIC PROFF THE COUNTRY IS CAREENING DEEPER INTO RECESSION.
AS COMPANIES THROTTLED BACK HIRING, THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BOLTED FROM 6.5 PERCENT IN OCTOBER TO 6.7 PERCENT LAST MONTH, A 15-YEAR HIGH.
“THESE NUMBERS ARE SHOCKING”, SAID ECONOMIST JOEL NAROFF, PRESIDENT OF NAROFF ECONOMICS ADVISORS, “COMPANIES ARE SHARPLY REACTING TO THE ECONOMY'S PROBLEMS AND SLASHING COSTS. THEY ARE NOT TRYING TO RIDE IT OUT.”
JOB LOSSES LAST MONTH WERE WIDESPREAD, HITTING FACTORIES, CONSTRUCT ION COMPANIES, FINANCIAL FIRMS, RETAILERS, LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY, AND OTHER INDUSTRIES. THE FEW PLACES WHERE GAINS WERE LOGGED INCLUDED THE GOVERNMENT, EDUCATION AND HEALTH SERVICES.
EMPLOYERS ARE SLASHING COSTS TO THE BONE AS THEY TRY TO COPE WITH SAGGING APPETITES FROM CUSTOMERS IN THE U.S. AND IN OTHER COUNTRIES, WHICH ARE STRUGGLING WITH THE OWN ECONOMIC TROUBLES.
IN RECENT DAYS, HOUSEHOLD NAMES LIKE AT&T INC., DUPONT, JPMORGAN CHASE & CO., AS WELL AS JET ENGINE MAKER PRATT & WHITNEY, A SUBSIDARY OF UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORP., AND MINING COMPANY FREEPORT-MCMORAN COPPER & GOLD INC. ANNOUNCED LAYOFFS.
FIGHTING FOR THEIR SURVIVAL, THE CHIEFS OF CHRYSLER LLC, GENERAL MOTORS CORPS. AND FORD MOTORS CO. WILL RETURN FRIDAY TO CAPITAL HILL TO AGAIN ASK LAWMAKERS FOR AS MUCH AS $34 BILLION IN EMERGENCY AID.
PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA, WHO TAKES OFFICE ON JAN. 20, HAS CALLED FOR A MASSIVE ECONOMIC RECOVERY BILL TO GENERATE 2.5 MILLION JOBS OVER HIS FIRST TWO YEARS IN OFFICE. HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., HAS VOWED TO HAVE A PACKAGE READY ON INAUGURATION DAY FOR OABAMA'S SIGNA TURE.
AT 12 MONTHS AND COUNTING, THE RECESSION IS LONGER THAN THE 10-MONTH AVERAGE LENGTH OF RECESSIONS SINCE WORLD WAR II. THE RECORD FOR THE LONGEST RECESSION IN THE POSTWAR PERIOD IS 16 MONTHS, WHICH WAS REACHED IN THE 1973-75 AND 1981-82 DOWNTURNS. THE CURRENT RECESSION MIGHT END UP MATCHING THAT OR SETTING A RECORD IN TERMS OF DURATION, ANALYSTS SAY.
THE 1981-82 RECESSION WAS THE WORST IN TERMS OF UNEMPLOYMENT SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION. THE JOBLESS RATE ROSE AS HIGH AS 10.8 PERCENT IN LATE 1982. JUS AS THE RECESSION ENDED, BEFORE INCHING DOWN.