Unemployment Catapults to 7.6%, But a Few Sectors Still Hiring

Posted on | February 6, 2009 | No Comments

The new jobs report from the Department of Labor is out and it’s not great news.  The unemployment rate skipped a few floors and landed at 7.6%.  There are currently 11.6 million unemployed people in the U.S.  Startling as these numbers are, they’re worse for blacks and Hispanics who are facing 12.6% and 9.7% unemployment rates, respectively.

Interestingly, women of all races are faring better than men.  The unemployment rate for women is 6.2% compared to 7.6% for men.

The average duration of unemployment is now 19.8 weeks, and we learned earlier this week that the number of new unemployment claims reached record heights this month.

The economy lost 598,000 jobs last month (January), 3.6 million since the recession began in December 2007.  Most of the losses were in manufacturing and construction, but several other sectors joined them on the biggest losers list.

Biggest Job Losers

• Manufacturing (207,000 jobs lost)
• Construction (111,000 jobs lost)
• Temporary Help (76,000 jobs lost)
• Retail (45,000 jobs lost)
• Transportation (44,000 jobs lost)
• Financial Activities (42,000 jobs lost)

The Good News

There was a smidge of good news this month.  The healthcare and private education sectors added jobs in January.  Healthcare added 19,300 jobs.  Private education added 32,600 jobs.

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