Factories suffer 41 months of layoffs

0 Comments | USA TODAY, January, 2004 | by Sue Kirchhoff

WASHINGTON -- Manufacturers still aren't producing the one item the economy needs most: jobs.

Despite recent sharp jumps in orders and shipments, factories shed 26,000 workers in December, the Labor Department said Friday. The December figures mark the 41st consecutive month of layoffs, and bring overall manufacturing job losses to 2.8 million since mid-2000.

The pace of layoffs has slowed since summer, but more than 500,000 factory jobs evaporated in 2003 alone. The figures are a disappointment for workers and many analysts, who had predicted the beleaguered manufacturing sector was turning the corner.

"The loss of 26,000 more manufacturing jobs in December shows that the manufacturing recovery is still in its infancy," said Jerry Jasinowski, president of...