Well folks, I guess there were no surprises here. Hope you’re sitting down because the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released their March “Employment Situation Report” and the news wasn’t good. The unemployment rate rose from 8.1% to 8.5% as an additional 663,00 people lost their jobs in March 2009. That brings the total number of unemployed people in the U.S. to over 13 million.
Officials date the start of the recession back to December 2007 and since that time it is estimated that over 5 million people have lost their jobs (but who’s counting). The largest portion of that job loss (over 3 million jobs) has occurred within the past 5 months. Job loss in March was widespread across sectors including:
- Jobs lost in Professional and Business Services: 133,00
- Jobs lost in Retail: 48,000
- Jobs lost in Financial Activities: 43,000
- Jobs lost in Leisure and hospitality: 40,000
- Jobs lost in Transportation and Warehousing: 34,000
If you would like to read the complete report check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics March 2009 Employment Situation Report. The April 2009 Employment Situation Report is due out May 8, 2009 at 8:30am EST. Oh goody- can’t wait to hear what that one says.
