Recently in Job Loss Category

(Star-Tribune) Last month, officials attributed the dropping rate partly to a large number of people who gave up looking for work. The state labor force has seen a net reduction recently.

I do not think that people have given up looking for work. I believe that there is just no work to look for. Anyone pull out the employment ads in the papers lately? If they fill half a page, I will eat my hat. Okay, actually, no. I will not eat my hat.

Still, I like the way this article subtly makes it appear as if it is the fault of the ne'er-do-well peasants for giving up; because -- as we all know -- the hapless, powerless, captains of industry and business are completely innocent of any fault in causing the collapse of our economy.

I suspect a more factual statement would be along the lines of people having exhausted their unemployment benefits because of the difficulty in finding work.

Paul Krugman, economic superguru, claims Big Government saved us from a depression. Since he knows much more about economics than me, on a quantum scale, I will not argue the point about Big Government's play in today's economic situation. Still, I think 'saved' might be a word used a bit too early. Not to mention that a lingering, protracted recession is not exactly a wonderful, Utopian existence for most of us little people. To me, recession simply implies less people today are suffering the fate of what many experienced during the Great Depression. In the end, today these people are still suffering.

Well, here it is, my first official day of unemployment. I never worked on Fridays, having worked 10 hour days and getting a three day weekend. So, that makes today the first day of unemployment. Drinks on the house...... oh, wait. This is a blog, not a bar. My bad.

CNN Money

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The U.S. economy continued to hemorrhage jobs in February, bringing total job losses over the last six months to more than 3.3 million, and taking the unemployment rate to its highest level in 25 years.

The government reported Friday that employers slashed 651,000 jobs in February, down from a revised loss of 655,000 jobs in January. December's loss was also revised higher to a loss of 681,000 jobs, a 59-year high for losses in one month.

Don't think this is the end. None of the moves to stimulate the economy have taken effect. By the time they wind through the federal, then state, bureaucracies, the employment figures will have gotten worse.

"It's a dismal report. We thought we'd have another month like this, and I think we have a couple of more coming," said Tig Gilliam, chief executive of Adecco Group North America, a unit of the world's largest employment firm. "We've got a lot of layoffs being announced that haven't been implemented."

Gilliam said he expects the unemployment rate to rise to 9% within the next few months.

There's no sign that things are going to change even after the next few months. With the news of GM being in worse shape than originally thought, and Chrysler's future looking even bleaker, I suspect unemployment will continue to rise throughout the year.

The more I read about the economy, the more I can't help but think it's time to pull the plug. Life support is just keeping the economy body in a coma. All economic brain functions are flat.

Still;

WASHINGTON - Nearly 5 million Americans continued to draw jobless benefits late last month, and new requests again exceeded 600,00 as companies lay off scores of workers amid a deepening recession.

The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of initial jobless benefit claims dropped to a seasonally-adjusted 623,000, from an upwardly revised figure of 631,000 the previous week. The latest tally still was above analysts' expectations of 610,000 claims.

What is it Atrios is always saying? Oh ya.

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The economic hits, that is.

Star Tribune

DETROIT - General Motors says it's cutting 10,000 salaried jobs, blaming the need to restructure the company amid the continued drop in new vehicle sales.

The Detroit-based automaker says it will reduce its total number of salaried workers to 63,000 from 73,000 this year. About 3,400 of GM's 29,500 salaried U.S. jobs are expected to be eliminated.

Ouch.