US Unemployment: Job Losses for Year Highest Since Second World War

US unemployment: Job losses for year highest since second world war

More than half a million jobs were lost in the US last month, taking the unemployment rate to its highest in 16 years.

Job losses over the whole of last year totalled 2.6 million, the biggest annual loss since 1945 when 2.75m jobs were shed, the US labour department said.

The bulk of the year's job losses came in the last four months when 1.9m people were laid off. In December alone, US employers cut 524,000 jobs. The original numbers for October and November were also revised higher.


January 9, 2009

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