THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: FEBRUARY 2009

Nonfarm payroll employment continued to fall sharply in February (-651,000),
and the unemployment rate rose from 7.6 to 8.1 percent, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employ-
ment has declined by 2.6 million in the past 4 months. In February, job
losses were large and widespread across nearly all major industry sectors.