Courtesy of Thredgold Economic Associates

The December employment report continued the losing streak in place throughout 2008, with the net loss of another 524,000 jobs, matching the consensus view of economists. Adding insult to injury were revisions to October and November employment data that noted the loss of an additional 154,000 jobs during those months.

Calendar year 2008? A net loss of nearly 2.6 million jobs, the worst performance since 1945, a period of 63 years.

Equally disconcerting was the spike in the nation’s unemployment rate from a revised 6.8% in November to a 16-year high of 7.2% in December. (See Figure 1 below).

Across the Board

If misery loves company, there was plenty to go around in December. The nation’s goods production sector lost another 251,000 jobs in
December. The manufacturing sector lost another 149,000 jobs, the
largest monthly loss since during the recession of 2001. The nation’s
construction sector lost another 101,000 jobs. The U.S. Labor
Department currently estimates the unemployment rates within these two
sectors at 15.3% and 8.3%, respectively.

The nation’s much
larger service-providing sector, where six of every seven jobs are
found, also got hammered in December, with the loss of another 273,000
jobs. The professional and business services sector lost another
113,000 jobs, while retail trade lost another 67,000 positions. Estimated unemployment rates in these two sectors were 1% and 7.2%
(includes wholesale trade), respectively.

Leisure and
hospitality lost 22,000 jobs (jobless rate estimated at 9.5%). Better
news saw the education and health services sector add another 45,000
jobs, while the government sector added 7,000. Jobless rates were
estimated at 3.8% and 2.3%, respectively.

Figure 1. U.S. Employment Growth