The nation’s unemployment rate soared last month to 7.2 percent, the highest in nearly 16 years.
Labor Department reported Friday that the total number of jobs eliminated last year was 2.6 million — the worst performance since 1945.
The huge job loss in December followed an even bigger 584,000 job drop in November and brought to nearly 2 million the number of people who have lost jobs just in the four months.
The report showed stunning weakness in the job market that economists fear will set off another downward spiral in the economy.
Economists say the sharp drop in hours indicates the economy contracted at an astonishing 7 percent rate in the final quarter of the year. Businesses as well as consumers are convinced that hard times are here to stay.
The only sectors that weren’t ravaged by job cuts were health care, education and government, which managed to eke out small job gains despite the weakening economy.
