US Unemployment

#jobs - Employers in the United States cut 533,000 jobs in November 2008, raising unemployment to 6.7 percent, compared with 4.7 percent a year earlier.

Not since December 1974, toward the end of a severe recession, have so many jobs disappeared in a single month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 1.9 million jobs have been lost since the start of the recession at the end of 2007.

If those too discouraged to look for work any longer or those working fewer hours than they would like are added to the roster of the unemployed, then the rate would hit a record 12.5 percent in November.

Source: New York Times, Bureau of Labor Statistics