[Benjamin]

Die Zahl der Beschäftigten (ohne Landwirtschaft) ist in den USA im Dezember um 524.000 zurückgegangen. Erwartet wurde hingegen ein Rückgang um 520.000 bis 525.000 neue Arbeitsplätze. Der Vormonatsrückgang wurde von 533.000 auf nun -584.000 weiter nach unten revidiert.

Total job losses for 2008 was 2.6 million, the largest decline since a 2.750 million drop in 1945.
Nearly 2.6 million jobs were lost in 2008, with 1.9 million destroyed in just the past four months, according to a survey of work places. It's the biggest job loss in any calendar year since 1945, when 2.75 million jobs were lost as the wartime economy was demobilized.
The unemployment rate rose to 7.2%, the highest in 16 years. Unemployment increased by 632,000 to 11.1 million, according to the survey of households. That same household survey showed employment falling by 806,000 in December. The number of people working part-time because of the slowing economy rose by 715,000 to 8.04 million.
An alternative measure of unemployment that includes workers too discouraged to look for a job rose to 13.5% from 12.6% in November; it's the highest in the 13 years since those data have been kept.