Today, the US Dept. of Labor reported a loss of over a half million (533,000) jobs in November alone, bringing 2008 job losses to over 1.7 million. The report was even worse than feared by many economists, putting further pressure on the the economy, retailers, and most of all, American families.
The images above pretty much show it all. In 2007, job growth was fairly healthy, but job growth was declining as the year went on. By January 2008, we were in slightly negative territory, and you can see what's happened since then. The downward trajectory of job loss continues to surge, virtually assuring the unemployment rate will continue to grow from here as we turn towards 2009.
The reported November job loss was the 11th straight monthly decline, and worst single monthly job loss since 1974. The U.S. unemployment rate shot up to 6.7% (from 6.5%), and many economists are predicting the unemployment rate reaching 7.5% to 9.0% before we "top" out sometime later in 2009.
Layoffs are soaring nationwide, and even in our hometown of Seattle, which until recently was fairing better than than the nation as a whole, the bad news is starting to really pile up here too. To track lay-offs in the Puget Sound region, click here.
There is really no way to put a positive "spin" on the most recent data. It's bad, and it's only going to get worse, for a while at least...
Until then, "hunker down," spend some quality time with your family and friends, and keep a tight grip on your wallets. Your "peeps" (me and my spouse's slang for our family and best friends) are far more important than money anyways, so enjoy the holiday season with your peeps. Maybe with less "stuff," but most of us already have plenty of that already.
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