US economy has shrunk 6.2%, Unemployment rockets to 8.1%

The country is getting bloodied by fallout from the housing, credit and financial crises-- the worst since the 1930s. And there's no easy fix for a quick turnaround, economists said.

NVDL: Any guesses as to what caused the housing, credit and financial crisis? It starts with a 'P'.

clipped from biz.yahoo.com Jobless rate jumps to 8.1 percent in Feb., highest since late 1983; employers cut 651,000 jobs Both figures were worse than analysts expected and the Labor Department's report shows America's workers being clobbered by a wave of layoffs unlikely to ease in the coming months. "There is no light at the end of the tunnel with these numbers," said Nigel Gault, economist at IHS Global Insight. "Job losses were everywhere and there's no hope for a turnaround any time soon." Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost 4.4 million jobs, more than half of which occurred in the past four months. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress earlier this week that recent economic barometers "show little sign of improvement" and suggest that "labor market conditions may have worsened further in recent weeks."