The U.S. unemployment rate
rose last month to 6 percent, matching an eight-year high reached
in April, and the economy lost jobs as the recovery stumbles.
The jobless rate increased more than expected from 5.7
percent in October. Payrolls fell by 40,000, the biggest decline
since February, after rising 6,000 in October, the Labor
Department said. Only five of the 60 economists surveyed expected
a drop in employment. Manufacturers, retailers and construction
companies cut jobs last month.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
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“Job creation isn’t happening,” said Carl Camden, president
and chief operating officer of Kelly Services Inc., the second-
largest U.S. temporary employment company. “There has to be
several months of 100,000-plus jobs created for this thing to be a
full-fledged economic recovery and we are not doing that.”
Less than an hour after the report, President George W. Bush
shook up his economic team, accepting resignations from Treasury
Secretary Paul O’Neill and White House economic adviser Lawrence
Lindsey. The percentage of the U.S. population holding jobs fell
to the lowest since July 1994. The economy will be hard-pressed to
gain strength without an increase in hiring, economists said. Job
and income growth are necessary to boost consumer spending, which
is two-thirds of economic growth.
Bloomberg News
