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U.S loses 159,000 jobs in September, biggest drop in 5 years

Job loss causes more concern regarding economy

Zach Oliva

The government reported Friday that the U.S lost 159,000 jobs this September, the biggest drop in unemployment during a one-month span in 5 years.

The report, released by the U.S Labor Department, stated employment has declined in each of the last 9 months. September, however, saw a drop in jobs double the average of the previous nine months, causing concern over whether or not the trend will continue.

“It’s a dismal report, and the worst thing about it is that it does not reflect the recent seizure that we’ve seen in the credit markets,” Michael T. Darda, chief economist at MKM Partners, told The New York Times. “There’s really nothing good about this report at all. We’ve lost jobs in nearly every area of the economy, and this is going to get worse before it gets better because the credit markets have deteriorated basically on a daily basis for the last few weeks.”

Darda isn’t the only one with pessimistic views on the future of the economy. Many experts foresee that there will not be significant improvements until late next year. Many struggling Americans are concerned as bills pile up and savings dwindle.

“This economy is just not creating near enough economic activity to generate wage or income growth,” Jared Bernstein, a senior economist at the labor-oriented Economic Policy Institute in Washington, told The New York Times. “That has serious living standards implications.”

What can be done to help save jobs?