WORLD> America
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WORLD> America
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Half-million US jobs vanish in Nov
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-06 09:45 That said, more pain is certainly in store. Fresh evidence: -- A record one in 10 American homeowners with a mortgage was either at least a month behind on payments or in foreclosure at the end of September, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported. -- General Motors, already pleading with Congress for billions of dollars to survive the month, said it would lay off an additional 2,000 workers as it cuts shifts at three car factories starting in February due to slowing demand for GM cars. US President George W. Bush, who used the word "recession" for the first time to describe the economy's state, pledged Friday to explore more efforts to ease housing, credit and financial stresses. "There is still more work to do," Bush said. "My administration is committed to ensuring that our economy succeeds." President-elect Obama said the dismal job news underscored the need for forceful action, even as he warned that the pain could not be quickly relieved. "There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis ... and it's likely to get worse before it gets better," Obama said. "At the same time, this ... provides us with an opportunity to transform our economy to improve the lives of ordinary people by rebuilding roads and modernizing schools for our children, investing in clean energy solutions to break our dependence on imported oil, and making an early down payment on the long-term reforms that will grow and strengthen our economy for all Americans for years to come." On a personal level, right before Thanksgiving, Mark Pierce, 51, who was executive pastor at a church in Mansfield, Ohio, was given a choice: get laid off or take a lesser job with a roughly 40 percent pay cut. His last day of work was Tuesday. "Anyone in that situation looks at it very personally," he said. "You say, 'Is this a cut across the board, or it just me?'" It's not just him. Employers are slashing costs as they cope with sagging sales in the US and in other countries, which are struggling with their own economic troubles. In recent days, AT&T Inc., DuPont, JPMorgan Chase & Co., as well as jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., and mining company Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. all have announced layoffs. Tom Solso, chief executive of Columbus, Ind.-based manufacturer Cummins Inc., said Friday the company planned to cut 500 jobs, or about 3.5 percent of its work force despite other cost-cutting moves such as temporarily shutting down plants, shortening work weeks and extending holiday shutdowns. Fighting for survival, the chiefs of Chrysler LLC, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. returned to Capitol Hill Friday to again ask lawmakers for as much as $34 billion in emergency aid. |
