524,000 jobs lost in December, unemployment rises to 7.2 percent.
By on Jan 9th, 2009 at 9:30 am
524,000 jobs lost in December, unemployment rises to 7.2 percent.
The U.S. economy lost 524,000 jobs in December, the 12th straight month of decline. “Nearly 2.6 million jobs were lost in 2008, with 1.9 million destroyed in just the past four months.” It’s the biggest job loss in any calendar year since 1945. The unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent, the highest since early 1993 — just after the last Bush left office. USA Today charts the job losses over the past year:
Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date
42 Responses to “524,000 jobs lost in December, unemployment rises to 7.2 percent.”
View Most Popular
Advertisement
What We're About
What We're Fighting For
What We're Fighting Against
Featured
Subscribe to the Progress Report
Topic CloudView topics sorted by popularity
Bachmann
Beck
Boehner
Bush
Bush Legacy
Cheney
Civil Rights
Congress
DADT
Economy
Energy
Environment
Ethics
Fox News
Franken
Global Warming
Guantanamo
Health Care
International Relations
Iran
Iraq
Justice
Krauthammer
Kyl
LGBT
Limbaugh
McCain
Media
Military
O'Reilly
Obama
Palin
Public Plan
Race
Radical Right
Rove
Sanford
Sotomayor
Steele
Supreme Court
Terrorism
ThinkProgress
Tiller
Torture
Women's Rights
Visit Our Affiliated Sites
Reports
In-depth studies on select topics
Got a hot tip?
Have a hot news tip? We'd love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us the latest.
ArchivesBlog Roll
It's all Obama's fault....
The New Right Wing Mantra
January 9th, 2009 at 9:33 amGreat graf...
I count around 1.5 MILLION jobs lost in the last 4 months.
"Foreman says these jobs are going, boys, and they ain't coming back."
January 9th, 2009 at 9:37 amPaulson's response: Hurry, authorize me to forward more public funds from the Treasury to the Wizards of Wall Street!!
January 9th, 2009 at 9:41 am"There ya go again, librul media -- makin' things sound desperate so Obama can look like a savior."
Thank you, Mister(s) O'Reilly, Hannity, Beck and Limbaugh, for refusing to look outside your limousine worlds at the majority's reality.
January 9th, 2009 at 9:44 amThe ghost of Ronny Raygun will save us!!
January 9th, 2009 at 9:49 amIt's all Bill Clinton's fault.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:00 amMeanwhile...
The United Nations has accused Israel of evacuating scores of Palestinians into a house in the suburbs of Gaza City, only to shell the property 24 hours later, killing some 30 people.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5482850.ece
January 9th, 2009 at 10:01 amSay, where the hell is Sec. Labor Elaine Chao?
Either she's never said a word since she took her job, or the press have never bothered talking to her, or both.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:02 amOutlook for the already unemployed is more grim every month.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:03 amWhile hope for the unemployed is diminished every week, job security for those who are employed is also being diminished. The downward spiral is rotating faster. Something drastic has to be done.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:05 amSay, where the hell is Sec. Labor Elaine Chao?
Either she’s never said a word since she took her job, or the press have never bothered talking to her, or both.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:02 am
that totally useless slag, and waste of protoplasm, is under 'investigation' by the senate Minority Leader, i'd guess..
January 9th, 2009 at 10:06 am5th Estate Says:
Say, where the hell is Sec. Labor Elaine Chao?
Either she’s never said a word since she took her job, or the press have never bothered talking to her, or both.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:02 am
____________
Well, duh - that means she's doing her job, then. She's letting the free market take care of labor issues. I mean, it's not government's job to, like, help people find jobs or promote the general welfare or any of that, right?
January 9th, 2009 at 10:07 amThis employment report should be the death knell for the right wing mantra that tax cuts are the panacea for the economy. For President Numb Nuts' 8 year tenure the economy created 3,020,000 jobs or 377,000 per year.
President Clinton raised taxes on the wealthiest 1% and the economy generated 22.7 million jobs or 2,843,000 per year.
End of story.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:10 amNicely said stewarjt.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:14 am#2, Total employment in August was 137,423,000 and in December 2008 it was 135,489,000. So over the four months September, October, November and December the job loss is 1,934,000. The December 2008 unemployment report is the one just released here in January 2009.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:15 amstewarjt Says:
This employment report should be the death knell for the right wing mantra that tax cuts are the panacea for the economy.
Funny thing, though, it hasn't. They are still calling for huge tax cuts for the wealthy as the cure to the economy's ills. Republican behavior has gotten quite bizarre, and is often unhinged from reality. I just don't see any comeback for the party of perverts, not now, not ever.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:16 amStewartjt: “This employment report should be the death knell for the right wing….”
One would like to think so, and one would imagine that every other debacle that has unfolded under Bush and the GOP will mean something in the next elections.
BUT
We still have the irrational 23-percenters in the general public who will refuse to acknowledge reality (exemplified by Joe the Not a Plumber and “Obama is an Arab”-Lady) AND we have both irrational and the very cynically irrational powerbrokers in industry who will continue to invest in the GOP.
There is also the mass media who will continue to ‘catapult the propaganda’ because they are ultimately controlled by the political–industrial complex.
And then there’s the Blue Dog Democrats (who seem essentially be pre-Reagan Republicans).
These forces don’t have to change their policies and attitudes to win back popular support and consideration for the next 4 years, all they have to do is obstruct and harass to drive down support for the Democrats to make 2012 close-enough to win.
I don’t think the GOP is in its last throes as any rational person would conjecture, rather it is cornered but still capable of fighting back hard.
The Dems really need to get rid of the Blue Dogs in the next couple of cycles, and it’s the grassroots that have to make that happen.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:37 amI agree that this employment report (the entire economic condition) should be the end of repugniscum economic policies.
But I still hear them calling for tax cuts for the wealthy, while cutting back on government spending (it will cost our children, you know).
They advocate what is Grover Norquist's wet dream. Help the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and cut any program that may benefit the populace.
I know my thoughts are simply redundant and rhetorical, but the repugs just cause me to feel sick.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:37 am5th Estate Says:
Say, where the hell is Sec. Labor Elaine Chao?
Either she’s never said a word since she took her job, or the press have never bothered talking to her, or both.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Oh, she made a comment allright. Back in June she said the increase in unemployment was a direct result of college students graduating into the job market. Of course none of them even had jobs to loose or were eligible for unemployment. Just as a side note: Yesterday, her husband the turtle, Mitch McConnell, was observed stuffing his hands in his pockets when the rest of Congress was clapping after Cheney made the announcement of the results of the electoral college indicating the Obama was in fact the next President of the United States. What a baby.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:39 amElaine Chao intends to start working any day now.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:42 amWhy is TP reporting the U3 figures like MSM without caveate ?
The U6 figure Jan 2009 is 13.3% we've had double digit unemployment since roughly June 2008
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t12.htm
January 9th, 2009 at 10:54 amstewarjt Says: This employment report should be the death knell for the right wing mantra that tax cuts are the panacea for the economy. For President Numb Nuts’ 8 year tenure the economy created 3,020,000 jobs or 377,000 per year.
Don't we get to deduct the jobs lost during his tenure too? Wouldn't that put him in the hole right now? Or do your figures already include the 2 million in losses this year?
January 9th, 2009 at 11:01 amReich-wingers will not doubt blame Obama and Clinton and ignore the fact that herr dubyah president for the last 8 years.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:02 amVerbalKint Says: Funny thing, though, it hasn’t. They are still calling for huge tax cuts for the wealthy as the cure to the economy’s ills. Republican behavior has gotten quite bizarre, and is often unhinged from reality. I just don’t see any comeback for the party of perverts, not now, not ever.
I hate to admit it, because of all of our hard work, but the Republicans have actually done more to hurt their own ideology than we could have by trying to explain it.
I think you could be right that the Republican Party is essentially dead. Not that they won't erect some zombie to replace the Democrats, who will eventually need to be replaced in another 12 years when they've begun to behave badly again... I wish we could just elect adults of no party who represent We The People instead...
January 9th, 2009 at 11:04 amOops: Reich-wingers will *no* doubt blame Obama and Clinton and ignore the fact that herr dubyah was president for the last 8 years.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:14 amOn the plus side... think about all the GOOPers about to unemployed in the next 2 weeks... hehe... good luck finding a job, fellas... kinda like poor Alberto...
January 9th, 2009 at 11:30 amNonsense. Cheney's government is reporting 7.2%. The figures are far greater and this is not responsible reporting.
People are having their full time hours cut all over. Include the underemployed and you are going to get a lot closer to 20%. It will be 25% next month.
Honestly, we need reporting that doesn't rely on fact from the gop. There is nothing they say that isn't BS unless it is involving their offshore investments.
stop the naive crap reporting and get with the reality on the ground, please?
January 9th, 2009 at 11:44 am2001 and 2008 were 2 of the 4 worst years for job losses since the Great Depression. That is the ugly Bush legacy.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:45 amAnother sad chapter of the "Hechuva job Bushie" legacy.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:50 amWorst President Ever.
Unemployment figures have been misleading and falsely reported for years, only now as we get closer to a new administration are we starting to see these numbers. My mom has (and still is) worked for the umemployment office in CT for 32 years and she knows that the numbers that have been reported the last 7 years have been wrong. But trying to get someone anyone in the so-called media to do a LITTLE research and find out that *gasp* they (The Administration-sounds like a shadow organization) have been lying or fudging the numbers is like getting Fox to drop the word news.
But of course as some of you have said earlier, this will be blamed on OUR incoming POTUS, but we will roll with the punches thrown by the Repuppetcans, they throw alot of them but they dont hurt, my daughter hits harder.
Those of us who truly love this country, its people, and believe in the greatness that we can achieve , will participate, appreciate, strive, and be rewarded with a place we all once heard about, the UNITED States of America.
Change, Period.
RIP
January 9th, 2009 at 11:55 amSGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
#23, The BLS numbers I used start with total non-farm employment in January 2001 and end in December 2008. Thus, they take into account all the gains and the losses over that period.
I should have added that in 2001 Bush cut marginal tax rates with most of the cuts going to the wealthy. In 2003 he cut the capital gains and dividend tax rates, again, with the cuts overwhelmingly benefiting the wealthy. And, obviously they were not in any way effective at job creation, which was their stated goal.
January 9th, 2009 at 12:27 pmRemember just a few short months ago Bush and Mc cain parroted that "the fundamentals of the economy are sound".
January 9th, 2009 at 1:02 pmTired Of Fighting, you're right on the unemployment numbers, what you're looking for is referred to as the under-employment statistic. It includes part time and discouraged unemployed that don't qualify for benefits. That figure is now 13.5%, up from 12.6%.
stewartj, as for the marginal tax rate cuts, it's a great example of how a little knowledge is a dangerous thing in the hands of idiot republicans. When the tax rates on wealthy americans hovered above 90% as it did under FDR then a tax cut on the wealthy can produce a small bump in investment - but if and only if there is a limited capital pool. With our currently historic low taxation rates - especially on corporations - the effect is the opposite. Most tax avoidance vehicles established by the government are there to encourage investment and job creation. When the pressure to avoid taxes is low on the wealthiest americans as it is now, then you get a job reduction effect. It's simple economics, but conservatives don't understand anything that involves math so they just keep spreading urban myths instead...
January 9th, 2009 at 1:42 pmI have never heard one word from Elaine Chao.
And in case any of you have forgotten the Reagan unemployment figures, they were two digits. And he started to count the military as part of the employment figures to pad the numbers. Do any of you remember the two year recession at that time?
Already the Republicans in the house and senate are talking about filibustering. They haven't done enough for the last eight years. All of the sudden they have come to Jesus. They now say that what Obama is doing will make the debt worse for the future. Forgetting entirely that unless we do something there will be no future. And of course they have no valid answers. And they forget we are in this because of those same tired ideas that got us here. TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS. Keep cutting taxes on the rich and corporations and it will trickle down to the bottom. I am still waiting for that trickle to happen. The Milton Freidmans and the Alan Greenspan's etc, that have not been right yet.
Without job creation you have no money to spend. It is one plus one. We have allowed employers to shift millions of jobs overseas. We have totally closed down our manufacturing base in this country. Somewhere along the line the conservatives brought the fallacy, an accepted one by many Democrats too, that we did not need a manufacturing base. That we could have a society that moved money around. A society that could be service oriented. Well it doesn't work that way. We became powerful and independent because we did it all here. We have to produce the tangible things. Things we can hold. Things we can point to as being made here. We do not have that anymore. For the past 25 years. And Clinton even bought into that wrong idea. Via all the bogus trade agreements that profited everyone but our own workers.
WE provided manufacturing that provided jobs. That provided materials from suppliers etc. When we gave that away, when we allowed corporations here a tax break for taking jobs out of the country, we destroyed our base. A country that makes nothing, has nothing. Try and find anything made in America.
Our society cannot exist on service and low pay jobs. We are fast becoming a second rate country. If you want to think of us in global terms, where is your leverage without power, and part of that leverage is not just economic power, but educational power? And without decent jobs, how do you educate the next generation. How do you provide real wage jobs to people without education?
We are the only country that give tax breaks to employers to take jobs away. It was supposed to be with the understanding that the money saved yearly, would provide new jobs training. But that was left to the oversight of the corporations themselves. And of course there was no oversight. So the money they saved in taxes, they gave to CEO's and to stock holders. This is like a swinging door. The corporations apply yearly for the tax breaks, then remain out of reach. So every year they get the same tax break with the same result. And there is NEVER any government oversight to see that they keep their word.
The small and midsized companies are the ones that provide most of the employment in this country. We often forget that.
And when you cut taxes during war time, just how do you keep two wars and an economy going? You do it by asking for EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS. This is what Bush did for all these war years. So it would not show up on the national debt, or yearly spending. That way the idiots in Congress, that let him do this, now have the surprise. WE ARE FLAT BROKE. Who could have seen that coming? Right?
Taxes are usually raised or bonds sold, something to pay for the war. But Bush and Cheney knew not only was the war illegal, but if people were forced to see the war for the expense it was, they would demand an end to it. He read the American public correctly. If you don't see it, it's not happening.
As a last thought. Now all our banking information is overseas too. When you call your bank, it is not here in America. It is elsewhere. FINANCIAL TERRORISM. Perhaps it does not worry you, but it does me.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:07 pm"discouraged unemployed"
I.e. those who won't take a lesser of a job than their previous one...even if it requires them to take a pay cut.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:56 pmOk Tracy_5, tell us where all those 'lesser' jobs are? Mervyns? Oops - Bankrupt
Hollyword Video? Oops - Bankrupt
Sharper Image? Oops - Bankrupt
Linens n Things? Oops - Bankrupt
Circuit City? Oops - Bankrupt
So Tracy_5, here is something for you. If you are working, that is not living in your parents basement, quit your job and then try to find a job. You are one clueless troll. And I could care less what your stupid drivel of a reply might be. You are a total waste of time, an unfeeling troll. You are truly a right wing type. How sick.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:42 pmIs that the official rate or the real rate? The real rate is more like 10 percent plus.
January 9th, 2009 at 8:15 pm"You are a total waste of time, an unfeeling troll."
You sound like one of those whinners that lost their job and now live in the parent's basement but won't dare take a lesser paying job in order to quit taking unemployment and move out and stop being a wart on the ass of humanity.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:41 pmThe funny thing was I was sort of expecting this from you Tracy_5...
Did you refer to that tired and dumb "give a man a fish" thing? I didn't really read them all...
January 10th, 2009 at 2:26 amdbadass, Tracy_5 is a clueless, uncaring dolt. It must be a horrible life to be Tracy_5 to be sucked in by the hate spew of right wing talking points and have no thought process of their own. This low-life has not clue of reality. And when asked for facts to back up it's points, all it does is puke out more right wing talking points, never a serious discussion or thought. Sigh, the trolls, especially this one, are too stupid to even reply to. It is time to talk about it rather than to it.
January 10th, 2009 at 10:28 am"The funny thing was I was sort of expecting this from you Tracy_5…"
I have seen people that are unwilling to take a lesser of a job in order to get the same pay thru unemployment. You insinuation that I don't care is unfounded. I actually do care but you guys like to make everyone think that they are a victim instead.
The "discouraged unemployed"...what does that mean exactly?
January 11th, 2009 at 11:39 am"And when asked for facts..."
What facts have you asked for? Only thing I have seen is you ramble off less than a dozen companies that are bankrupt but fail to mention any new companies like these 100 different NEW ones...
http://www.entrepreneur.com/hot100/
January 11th, 2009 at 11:52 am