WORLD> America
US unemployment hits 25-year high
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-07 09:16


Internal Revenue Service recruiting agent Neki Jones (C) distributes information to job applicants at the National Careers Fair in Anaheim, Calif., March 4, 2009. [Agencies]

The jobless rate for people with bachelor's degrees or higher jumped to 4.1 percent. And the rate for people without a high-school diploma climbed to 12.6 percent. Both are the highest in records dating to 1992.

The jobless rate for blacks rose to 13.4 percent, the highest since June 1993; the rate for Hispanics hit 10.9 percent, the highest since April 1993.

With no place to land, the number of "long-term unemployed" - those out of work for 27 weeks or more - climbed to 2.9 million, the most in records back to 1948.

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Construction companies eliminated 104,000 jobs last month. Factories axed 168,000. Retailers cut nearly 40,000. Professional and business services got rid of 180,000, temporary-help agencies 78,000. Financial companies reduced payrolls by 44,000. Leisure and hospitality firms chopped 33,000.

The few areas spared: education and health services, as well as government, which boosted employment last month.

For those with jobs, employers kept a tight rein on hours. The average workweek in February stayed at 33.3 hours, matching the record low set in December.

Disappearing jobs and evaporating wealth from tanking home values, 401(k)s and other investments have forced consumers to retrench, driving companies to lay off workers. It's a vicious cycle in which all the economy's problems feed on each other, worsening the downward spiral.

A bit of positive economic news came from the Federal Reserve, which reported that consumer borrowing increased at an annual rate of US$1.76 billion in the first month of the year. Still, the small rise is unlikely to shake economists' views that borrowing will remain weak this year as fearful consumers tighten their belts.

The economy contracted at 6.2 percent in the final three months of 2008, the worst showing in a quarter-century. Analysts believe the economy in the current January-March quarter is contracting at a pace between 5.5 and 6 percent or more.

A new wave of layoffs hit this week, with General Dynamics Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp, Tyco Electronics Ltd, and others announcing job cuts.

Obama is counting on a multipronged assault to lift the country out of recession: a US$787 billion stimulus package of increased federal spending and tax cuts, a revamped bailout program for troubled banks and a US$75 billion effort to stem home foreclosures.

But economists said the jobs situation seems to be killing any hopes for an economic recovery later this year as some had hoped.

"Faith in a rebound is running low no matter where you look these days," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital.

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