the MSM is thinking right now, "thank God! now we have something to use to scare the hell out of people. spinning
the 2% growth in GDP into a doomsday scenario was getting more difficult every day".
U.S. Payrolls Drop 51,000 Jobs; Jobless Rate Rises
Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. unemployment rate rose to the highest level in more than four years as employers cut jobs again in July, increasing the threat of a deeper economic slowdown.
Payrolls fell by 51,000, less than forecast, after a decline of 51,000 in June, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The jobless rate rose to 5.7 percent, from 5.5 percent the prior month. As recently as April, the jobless rate was 5 percent.
``This is further evidence the economy is in a recession, probably a shallow recession,'' said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts. ``It will be a major drag on consumer spending.''
The last time the unemployment rate climbed so much in four months was in 2001, when the U.S. was last in a recession. Job losses have combined with decreasing property values, stricter lending rules and near-record energy prices to send consumer confidence levels close to the weakest in 16 years in July.
Cutbacks at UAL Corp. and Starbucks Corp. signal firings are spreading beyond builders and manufacturers as raw-materials costs soar. General Motors Corp., which today announced a second- quarter loss of $15.5 billion, may eliminate about 5,000 U.S. jobs by year-end, people familiar with the plan said this week.
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