Unemployment rises from 6.8% to 7.2%

msnbc --- WASHINGTON - Trying to survive a deepening recession, employers are cutting their work forces to the bone, leaving more Americans unemployed and with dim prospects of finding a new job any time soon.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the jobless rate rose to 7.2 percent in December and payrolls dropped by 524,000 jobs, capping a year when job losses were logged every month and presaging more job losses to come.

That marks the highest jobless rate since January 1993.

atrios.blogspot.com:

524K jobs. Unders win again. Unemployment at 7.2%.


...U6, a broader measure of unemployment, is up to 13.5%.

...owie:

The change in total nonfarm employment for October was revised from -320,000 to
-423,000, and the change for November was revised from -533,000 to -584,000. Monthly
revisions result from additional sample reports and the monthly recalculation of sea-
sonal factors.