Archive for December, 2008
What are the long-term effects of excesses and duplicity in the housing market? Employers slashed 533,000 jobs in November 2008, the most in 34 years, catapulting the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent, dramatic proof the country is careening deeper into recession. Naive economists thought 330,000 jobs would go away, showing how over half a million is more serious than we thought.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. announced plans to lay off about 21% of Washington Mutual Inc.’s employees by the end of 2009. J.P. Morgan, which acquired WaMu in September for $1.9 billion after it was seized by the government, told employees yesterday that it will lay off 4,000 workers by the end of January, according to J.P. Morgan spokesman Tom Kelly. Another 5,200 are being asked to stay on through various dates in 2009 to help with the deal’s integration.