CNN does the tally – 50,000 jobs lost today

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PE January 26, 2009 2:45 PM, with story from CNN Money

In one day, today, CNN reports the 50,000 jobs have been lost, totally 170,000 in January already. The recession is deepening around the world with Caterpillar cutting 20,000 jobs, Dutch bank ING 7,000, Sprint 8,000, Home Depot 7,000, Pfizer 8,000 and John Deere 700. “It’s all about the consumer, and the consumer’s been hit hard,” said Robert Brusca, chief economist at Fact and Opinion Economics. “It’s a vicious circle as weakness begets layoffs, which beget more spending weakness.” 2008 saw 2.6 million jobs lost, the worst since 1945.