U.S. Hemorrhaging Jobs Early in 2008

There are now 232,000 fewer jobs in the United States than there were at the beginning of 2008 and the unemployment rate is at its highest since 2005, as the most recent jobs data released Friday by the Labor Department showed a larger-than-expected drop in March.

The Labor Department said Friday that nonfarm payrolls dropped by 80,000 jobs in March, higher than the 50,000 – 60,000 expected by economists. Labor also revised the already dismal numbers from January and February to reflect an additional 67,000 jobs lost over the two months. The first three months of 2008, the economy had lost 232,000 jobs.

The data also moved the unemployment rate from a previous reading of 4.8 percent to 5.1 percent, the highest since September 2005.

Digging deeper into the numbers reveals a greater level of weakness in the private sector in March. The government added 18,000 jobs in the month, putting the private sector job loss at nearly 100,000. Manufacturing and construction jobs took the biggest hit, shedding a combined 99,000 positions. One of the lone bright spots, the healthcare sector, added 42,000 jobs in March.

Average hourly wages rose 5 cents in March.

The Labor Department data Friday stoked additional fears that the economy is heading toward, or already in, a recession. On Wednesday in testimony before Congress, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the economy could face recession in the first half of 2008, the first time he has acknowledged the possibility of negative growth.