NEW YORK (Reuters) - Job losses and plans to lay off workers hammered the struggling U.S. economy in the final month of 2008, according to private reports that could foreshadow surprisingly grim labor market data from the government on Friday.
U.S. private employers shed 693,000 jobs in December, up sharply from the revised 476,000 jobs lost in November and far more than economists estimated, a report by ADP Employer Services said on Wednesday....
"This is shockingly awful," said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, New York.
[From Private job losses mount, ominous for payrolls | Reuters]
I see lines out the door where I work. Computer classes, resume writing workshops, and other assistance programs are booked solid a month in advance. The unemployment benefits system is struggling to keep up with first-time and renewal applications. Businesses are closing, laying off, or moving out. It is not a pretty sight.
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