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240,000 Jobs Shaved From Payrolls in October

November 7, 2008 RSS Feed Print

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Job losses in October sailed above economists' expectations, as U.S. employers shaved 240,000 non-farm jobs from their payrolls and the unemployment rate ticked up to 6.5 percent from 6.1 percent in September, the Labor Department reported this morning.

Economists had largely expected the unemployment rate would rise to 6.3 percent and that 200,000 jobs would be shed. Goldman Sachs economists had predicted a bearish shave of 300,000 jobs.

The payroll cuts were widespread. "In October, job losses continued in manufacturing, construction, and several service-providing industries," the Labor Department reported. The 6.5 percent unemployment rate is the highest since 1994.

September employment numbers were revised to a loss of 284,000 jobs that month. Those are the steepest losses since November 2001, when employers shed 292,000 jobs in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Employment has now dropped by 1.2 million jobs since the start of the year.

While President-elect Barack Obama has touted a five-year, $150 billion green-energy investment package as a path to 5 million new jobs, the necessary investment may be much larger for that kind of job creation, the Wall Street Journal reports today.

Tags:: careers,; unemployment

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The real jobless rate is over 12%.
Unless the population comes up with some money to spend on goods and services, more companies are going to close up and more people will be laid off.
The population generates 70% of the economy and we need major tax cuts now and we need interest rates reduced sharply before the population is going to have money to spend on goods and services.
http://ewebsmith.com/Finance/hiddendemon.html

Web Smith of CA 4:16PM November 07, 2008

The only way to not think about money is to have a great deal of it. To get something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done. Unless you believe you will not understand. www.LikeSoup.com

Jim Campbell of CA 11:26AM November 07, 2008

Energy Independence needs to be included in the realm of our economic issues. Our dependence on foreign oil impacts every aspect of our society and economy. This past year is a testimony to that fact. We were slammed by high prices at the pump that drained our wallets. The cost of food and every consumer product has risen because of increased production and shipping costs. The average family had no money left over to spend, save or invest. So we tighten our belts, we spend less because we have less and sadly that results in more job losses. We have so much available in the way of FREE energy, solar and wind that can be utilized to replace oil. Hybrid and electric plug in cars would replace another huge percentage of our dependence on foreign oil. Our government bails out to the tune of trillions of dollars. The last stimulus checks cost our government 168 BILLION DOLLARS. It did zip for our economy. That money could have gone a long way towards getting America started on the path to energy independence. The returns from that would be infinite. Jeff Wilson has a great new book out called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence NOW. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in seeing our country become more energy independent and our economy being freed from OPEC's whims.

Sherry of 10:49AM November 07, 2008

240,000 Jobs Shaved From Payrolls in October

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