The Labor Department's much-anticipated report showed employers cut 524,000 jobs in December, a smaller decline than the loss of 550,000 jobs economists forecast. But the unemployment rate jumped to a 16-year high of 7.2 percent -- more than the 7 percent economists predicted -- from 6.8 percent in November.
Forget about any rebound in GDP growth for 2009. Jobless consumers won't spend as much:
Drivers rattled by the worst U.S. labor market since World War II are hanging on to old autos longer instead of buying new models, threatening to crimp sales again in 2009 after demand plummeted to a 16-year low.
The article quotes analysts who say the next installment of the automakers' bailout will be far larger than expected. No kidding. I could have told them that (in fact I did in my last post on the automakers' bailout) but Bloomberg doesn't ask little old me for my opinions.
Nota bene: Anthony J. Alfidi doesn't hold any positions in worthless automakers.