thanks to Eschaton

U.S. Economy in Worst Hiring Slump in 20 Years

The American economy has fallen into its worst hiring slump in almost 20 years, and many business executives say they remain unsure when it will end.

With economic growth having slowed to less than 1 percent in recent months, about one million people appear to have dropped out of the labor force, neither working nor looking for a job, according to government figures.

The surge in discouraged workers is the most significant since the months immediately following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and it suggests that the pain of joblessness is worsening even though the nation's official unemployment rate, which counts only people looking for work, held steady at 6 percent in December.
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Photoshop the cover for the US 2004 Fiscal Budget