US loses 63,000 jobs in sign of deeper economic woes

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A stumbling US economy lost 63,000 jobs in February, according to a shockingly weak report Friday that prompted the Federal Reserve to take fresh steps to pump liquidity into the stressed banking system.

The Labor Department report showed the second straight month of losses in nonfarm payrolls, seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum.

In January, revised data showed a loss of 22,000 positions, compared with an earlier estimate of a drop of 17,000.

February's loss was the biggest since March 2003, at the start of the war in Iraq, and a major disappointment for analysts expecting a gain of 25,000 jobs. For some, the report confirms the US is in recession.

"The payrolls report had recession written all over it," said...