Payrolls Plunge 308,000 in February (Feb. unempl. %5.8)

Reuters ^ | 3-7-03

[mikenola]

Fri March 7, 2003 08:34 AM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of workers on U.S. payrolls plunged in February at the sharpest rate since November 2001 and the jobless rate rose to 5.8 percent, the government said on Friday in a shockingly gloomy economic report. The Labor Department said payroll jobs outside the farm sector declined by 308,000 last month -- in contrast to expectations in a Reuters poll that they would rise by 8,000. Payrolls had risen by 185,000 in January, a number that was revised up from the originally reported 143,000 gain.

The jobless rate climbed one-tenth of a percentage point from January's 5.7 percent.

The grim report comes amid growing uncertainty about the economy's health at a time when many analysts believe uncertainty stemming from the threat of war with Iraq is leading to reluctance among employers to hire.

A Labor Department analyst told Reuters in an interview that special factors such as huge winter storms on the East Coast might have contributed to the February job declines but he could not quantify the impact.

Although the consensus forecast of economists had projected a slight rise in payrolls in February, several analysts had been revising their forecasts to anticipate a possible decline after a raft of downbeat signals in recent days, including a spike in applications for jobless claims.

February's job losses were widely distributed across industries. Job losses in the retail sector were especially steep, falling 92,000. Manufacturing jobs dropped 53,000 and construction jobs tumbled 48,000.

[Glenn]

With the DOW and NASDAQ both ready to open lower, it should be interesting to see how they absorb this tidbit.

[Galtoid]

Anther bleak day, I'm afraid.

[Seajay]

Hey, who cares ... we have an exciting war to watch !

[OldFriend]

According to many analysts, this had to do with the brutal weather. Surprisingly small increase considering the conditions.

[KevinDavis]

That is what I heard. When you are snowed in your really can't go out and spend anything at all.

[mabelkitty]

Well, I'd take this economy of the beating France is gong to get via the France Telecom and Vivendi.

snicker snicker.

Can't wait for their American export numbers to drop next month.

[xzins]

The president must move soon to resolve the Iraq situation.

Our security is the ultimate reason, BUT the uncertainty is killing oil prices, and that is hurting the economy.

[Consort]

Liberal politicians love it.

[Indy Pendance]

Another Reuters make our econony look bad story. Follow manufacturing trends to get a true picture of where our economy is heading. We knew back in 98 we were heading for a recession because of our lack of orders from automotive and other major manufacturing companies.

Factory orders jump 2.1 percent

[Moonman62]

I guess this is another month when we don't have to worry about the "wealth effect" or "economic overheating." Thank you Alan Greenspan.

[FITZ]

So do globalists and free-traders. Loss of jobs means Americans aren't working which is a good thing because someone else can do the same work for less money.

[Thane_Banquo]

Unemployment is a lagging indicator.

Durable goods orders, the purchasing managers' index, and other durable goods manufacturing numbers are leading, and they have been positive.

[brydic1]

GWB needs to read a little of TR. Speak Softly but carry a big stick. Act not talk. The year long hemmorrage of words from this administration almost equals the financial hemmorage our nation and the world is experiencing. GW wake up before its too late. I don't want to hear another word from you until I hear you announce that our troops are ridding the world of Saddam. Keep your trap shut in the meantime. Who do you think is paying any attention to the 1000th threat you utter. Repeated threats without action are surely interpreted by the enemy (rightly or wrongly) as weakness.

[waterstraat]

When will the factories in America who permantently closed their doors here and moved to China and Mexico, re-open here and rehire the laid off Americans?

When will the companies who outsourced their technical jobs rehire American citizens?

When will the over a million H1-B visas all be canceled?

When will the 10 million illegas be deported?

Who is going to be taxed and who is going to pay for the food, welfare and houseing of all these unemployed Americans and their families until all these things are done?

[RipSawyer]

I don't want to make the situation worse than it is, and I certainly don't think that Bush has created the situation, even though the Rats will spin it that way but the economy has been going downhill in a way that many don't want to face up to. There are a lot of things wrong and the war is just a part of it. There has been tremendous productivity growth since WWII and yet during the same time we have changed from a country where any high school graduate could earn enough money in his early twenties to get married and support a stay at home wife and children to a country where both husband and wife must work to make ends meet. Something is not right here and I lay the blame to actions taken by our government to overtax and overregulate every facet of life and it only gets worse.

[Orangedog]

The Dow and NASDAQ would likely go lower even without this news. After the Iraq issue is settled, stocks may get a boost, but if you look at valuations (P/E ratios), there are still a lot of stocks that are way too expensive.

[July 4th]

Well, we can take care of what needs to be done in this world, and take the dive in the market piece by piece as we have been doing. Or we can sit back, do nothing, and wait for the next major attack - by Al Qaeda, Iraq, or North Korea - and watch the market crash all at once. I'd prefer to secure the future.

[Seajay]

My sarcasm was meant to indicate that no one in the government or media seems to be that disturbed about the economy. Not that the government can do anything about it. These international adventures, however important they may be, do cost dollars, and the dollars spent certainly do not translate into consumables ....

[ventana]

No but if at least we are still here to consume, that's a good thing, right? V's wife.