Bankruptcy

Bad News Friday: Job Losses Up and Retail Spending Down

By J. Michael McBride

The number of jobs lost last month are the highest since December of 1974. ‘U.S. employers axed payrolls by 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years and far more than expected, government data on Friday showed, as the year-old recession hammered every corner of the U.S. economy…. You can't get much uglier than this. The economy has just collapsed, and has gone into a free fall,’ said Richard Yamarone, chief economist at Argus Research in New York.”

Here is a link to that story:
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE4B437520081205

And, as if that were not enough bad news for one day, November retail numbers reflect the largest drop since 1969. “With Wal-Mart the notable exception, retailers limped through a miserable November that even a surge of shopping after Thanksgiving couldn’t save, marking the weakest month since at least 1969 and deepening fears that the crucial holiday period could be the most dismal in decades….As merchants announced their November sales figures Thursday, the deep malaise cut across all sectors as shoppers worried about layoffs and shrinking retirement funds focus on necessities. Wal-Mart Stores, though, posted sales gains that surpassed Wall Street estimates and has seen more customers and higher average transactions….”

Here is a link to that story:
http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1076103.html

The markets are not reacting as badly as they might, with the Dow “only” down 189 points as of 9:15 a.m. Texas time!
http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=DJI

Michael

Full post as published by Texas Lawyer Blog on December 05, 2008 (boomark / email).