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BloombergMarch 1 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. probably hemorrhaged jobs in February at an even faster clip as the world’s largest economy sank to new depths, economists said before reports this week.
Employers cut payrolls by 650,000, the most since 1949, and the jobless rate probably surged to 7.9 percent, according to the median estimates in a Bloomberg News survey ahead of Labor Department figures March 6. Other reports may show industries from manufacturing to services weakened further.
Companies such as General Motors Corp. and Macy’s Inc. are stepping up the pace of firings as the worst financial crisis in seven decades causes sales around the globe to tumble. The Obama administration is promising its stimulus plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs and the Federal Reserve is flooding markets with liquidity to revive lending and restore growth.
“We’re not seeing any indication that we’re finding a bottom,” said Julia Coronado, a senior economist at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York. “We saw businesses pull back and consumers pull back across the board and that’s still working its way across the economy.”
The economy lost 598,000 jobs in January, bringing the total drop in employment since the recession began in December 2007 to 3.6 million, the most of any downturn since 1945.
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