
November’s job losses were the steepest since December 1974, when 602,000 jobs were shed. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a reduction of 340,000 jobs.
“This is a clear employment blowout. Firms are reacting as dramatically as they can to make sure they have cost structures they can survive the recession we are in,” said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors.
One reader commenting on the site feels the job losses have not hit bottom. “I predict 30% unemployment by March of 2009. The retailers are gonna tank right after Christmas. Look for some really good deals!” wrote Smacktle.
Not all responses were as dire.
“Well these are pretty bad numbers. This will be a real test to see how much bad news is priced into the markets. Futures are down quite a bit, but I actually expected them to be down a lot more given these terrible recessionary numbers,” says Jeff Kleintop, chief market strategist for LPL Financial in Boston.
“It might be hard in future months to get numbers that are any worse. It might be good that we raced to some of the worst numbers we’ve had because perhaps it can’t get incrementally worse.”
Some of our readers found the data less shocking.
“This is not a big surprise, really. One has only to observe how many fewer cars are on the road shortly after rush hour, how many empty seats are on the planes into or out of major hubs, how many fewer people are in front of you in any line for services from movie theaters to tire stores, how much more quickly you are seated in a restaurant,” writes Jaime Simmons.
What you think about today’s unemployment numbers?
(Pictured above: A member of the Laborers Union Local 89 waits outside his local union hall after placing his name on the job list in San Marcos, California November 7, 2008. REUTERS/Mike Blake)