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(March 5) -- U.S. businesses continued to cut jobs in February, and the number of unemployed Americans convinced they won't find new work rose to the highest point in more than 15 years. The unemployment rate was the same as in January at 9.7 percent.
The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls fell by 36,000, a faster pace than the revised drop of 26,000 jobs recorded in January. Many economists expected an even bigger decline from the government survey of businesses because of the heavy snow storms that kept people home during several work days in February, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics said it wasn't possible to quantify the net impact of the winter weather.
The construction industry continued to be one of the worst hit labor sectors, with payrolls falling by 64,000. A worsening outlook for commercial real estate and the stalled recovery of the home market suggest construction won't be a source of job creation anytime soon.
Employers in the information industries also cut more jobs, especially publishers, the film and recording industries and telecommunications companies. But the steady fall-off in manufacturing employment slowed, with a net 1,000 new factory jobs created across the nation.
And in a sign that some businesses could soon be ready to hire, temporary help services added 48,000 jobs. The number of new temp workers has grown by 284,000 since September.
But as a recent series of new polls from Gallup suggested, the addition of temp workers hasn't made a dent in the psychological damage wrought by the economic downturn. Persistent problems in the jobs market have left many people feeling that they are underemployed.
The Labor Department's tally of discouraged workers -- people who want work but have given up looking because they no longer feel jobs are available for them -- grew to 1.2 million. That's a jump from 1 million in January, 731,000 in February 2009 and just 396,000 in February 2008. It's by far the biggest measure of discouragement in government data that goes back to 1994.
And it suggests employment worries, which have been sapping consumer spending and thus undermining the economic growth needed to spur hiring, will remain the biggest source of political anxiety as well.
The House late Thursday passed a $35 billion jobs-creation bill on a mostly party-line vote, sending the measure back to the Senate, where it is expected to get another vote soon.
Job Seekers' Discouragement Spreads
Mar 5, 2010 – 8:31 AM
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