Economy Unexpectedly Lost 4,000 Jobs in August; Recession #s

U.S. employers cut 4,000 jobs in August, the first time in four years that monthly hiring contracted, the government said on Friday in a report certain to boost pressure on Federal Reserve policy makers to cut interest rates.

The surprisingly bleak August jobs report was sharply contrary to expectations that hiring would keep rising and comes even before the worst of the credit-market turmoil has begun to have an impact on the economy. Many financial services firms hit by subprime mortgage problems already have begun to announce layoffs.

The last time the economy shed jobs was in August 2003, when 42,000 jobs were cut.

In addition to the August job losses, the Labor Department revised down its estimates for hiring in June and July by a total of 81,000. It said 68,000 jobs were added in July rather than 92,000 and 69,000 in June instead of 126,000.

Despite the job losses in August, the unemployment rate that is compiled from a separate survey was unchanged from July at 4.6 percent . It has held in a range from 4.4 percent to 4.6percent since last September.

Economists polled a week ago by Reuters had forecast 110,000 jobs would be created in August, but many analysts had scaled back their expectations since then amid increasing signs the job market was coming under strain.

(rest of CNBC article @ following link)

http://www.cnbc.com/id/20638344

that the only way we'll be able to end the war and reallly begin to change this country is if there is a major economic crisis that hits everyone in the pocket book. It seems that that may be the only thing that will really wake the remianing 30 percent of people up to the failures of the current presidency.
That being said, I certainly don't hope for a major recession becuase I would like to be able to live relatively comfortably (at least as comfortably as I do today -- in a 1 BR basement apt. with my wife and dog).

Someone was cooking the books.

I'm looking again, and I've never seen so many jobs expecting so much for so little.

I agree. Fortunately, I am lucky enough to have a job right now but even so the expectations are through the roof and the pay is ridiculously low. Part of the reason is endemic in my profession. I'm a journalist for a local community newspaper. I provide a valuable, important and risky (in terms of physical safety and legal safety) service but I get paid service worker wages. In fact I could get paid more working at a McDonald's, seriously.
I think this is a fact shared by the majority of the country and yet the White House and it's economists keep pulling the wool over people's eyes.

Everyone is stupid some time in their life, but no one wants to be a sucker, which is exactly what you have to be to believe the economy is doing well unless you are in the richest 2%.