Articles from the New York Times: Unemoployment

Jobless Rate Hits 7.2%, a 16-Year High

The nation lost 524,000 jobs in December, reflecting a pervasive fear among employers that if they fail to shed workers quickly their companies may go under in a recession poised to become the worst since the 1930s.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, jumped to a 16-year-high of 7.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. The growing army of the unemployed, at 11.1 million, is nearly 50 percent bigger than at the start of the recession a year ago.

A job expo in Concord, California. In December.

Unemployment Rate at 14-Year High After Big October Losses

The American economy lost another 240,000 jobs in October, the government reported Friday morning, the 10th consecutive monthly decline and a clear signal that an accelerating slowdown is assailing households and businesses.

The unemployment rate climbed to 6.5 percent , the highest level since 1994 and up from 6.1 percent the month before.

Adding to the gloom was a steep downward revision in payroll numbers for September. The Labor Department said that employers slashed 284,000 jobs that month, far higher than the 159,000 that was initially reported.

New York Times lays off staff, seeks pay cuts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Times Co laid off 100 employees on Thursday and cut salaries for the rest of the year by 5 percent, and said it might cut newsroom jobs at its namesake newspaper if it cannot get union employees to agree to a similar cut.

The news, which the Times released in two memos from company executives, comes on the same day rival newspaper The Washington Post said it wants to buy out an unspecified number of employees.