February Job Losses: 700,000 !

The US Department of Labor will release unemployment numbers for February on Friday 6 March, but the writing on the wall is extremely bad. Automatic Data Processing, a payroll processing company, released an employment report that estimated nearly 700,000 jobs lost for the month of February. That number represents an 11% increase in job cuts from the previous month. January's revised employment losses were 614,000 jobs. These losses were higher than what most economists originally estimated and reflects the continued contracting of the U.S. economy. The national (U-3) unemployment rate now stands at 7.6%. However, California - a major economy itself - now has a U-3 unemployment rate exceeding 10%. Both employees of products and services companies were equally hit in February. Goods-related companies shed 338,000 while the service sector cut 359,000 jobs. Look for the numbers on Thursday to be at 8.2 % (U-3) and 17.9 % (U-6). The U-3 number is on track to exceed 10 % by perhaps as soon as June, while the closer to being more accurate and real U-6 rate is headed to above 20 % by perhaps as soon as May. A U-6 rate that nears 30 % is possible by late summer.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Stock-investors-position-Fridays-unemployment/story.aspx?guid={CB8EE716-E9D6-4B7C-9C55-34D6197953A4}

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