Payroll employment plummeted by 63,000 jobs last month, with the losses spread throughout a wide swath of the economy, not just construction and financial services.
And in a particularly worrisome sign, temporary help services cut 27,600 jobs. Often, companies cut temporary workers before shedding permanent jobs, making that category a leading indicator for what is to come.
The online WSJ says it all:
And gas prices? Well, if you drive, you already know….
[By the way, the last story in the WSJ? Ironic isn’t it?]