Dangerous Cracks Appearing in Job Market

Friday March 7, 6:29 pm ET
By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer Employers Slash Jobs, Thousands Drop Out of the Labor Force WASHINGTON (AP) -- Dangerous cracks in the nation's job market are deepening. Employers slashed jobs by the largest amount in five years and hundreds of thousands of people dropped out of the labor force -- ominous signs that the country is falling toward a recession or has already toppled into one.

For the second straight month, nervous employers got rid of jobs nationwide. In February, they sliced payrolls by 63,000, even deeper than the 22,000 cut in January, the Labor Department reported Friday.