U.S. Companies Cut 240,000 Jobs in October; Unemployment Spikes to 6.5 Percent, Highest Since 1994 [View All]

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Source: ABC News

U.S. Companies Cut 240,000 Jobs in October; Unemployment Spikes to 6.5 Percent, Highest Since March 1994

Unemployed Nation: America's Shrinking Payroll
More Than 1 Million People Have Lost Their Jobs in the United States in 2008


Carol Steinbrecher is a 55-year-old mother of three who, like many Americans, has spent most of her life working hard to provide the best for her family.

But today she is part of another group of Americans, one that is growing larger every day: the unemployed.

In the first ten months of this year, the nation's employers have cut nearly 1.2 million jobs and the unemployment rate is now at 6.5 percent, the highest it has been since March 1994. The Department of Labor released new data this morning showing that October was the tenth straight month of job losses, with another 240,000 lost just last month.

Fidelity and Mattel were some of the latest to announce layoffs, coming out yesterday with 1,300 and 1,000 job cuts, respectively. And this morning Ford said it would cut its North American salaried workforce by an additional 10 percent.

Steinbrecher spent 17 years working for Xerox, most recently as a customer service manager. Then, one day in June, she was part of an 800-person layoff.

Immediately she thought: "How was I going to keep my kid in college? How could I make tuition payments?"

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=6199501&page=1