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The monthly unemployment statistic issued by the federal Department of Labor was Story of the Day as all three newscasts led with the gloomy state of the job market. The number of jobs nationwide is declining for the first time since 2003. There are 7.4m Americans looking for work and a further 450,00 jobless have had such a discouraging time that they left the labor force altogether in February. The prospects for the economy are so poor that selling continues on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is now worth less than it was almost 18 months ago.

"It is no longer: 'Will there be a recession?'" ABC's Betsy Stark reflected after reviewing the data, "but: 'How long and how deep?'" When President George Bush reacted by reassuring us that his fiscal stimulus plan is about to kick in, CBS' Anthony Mason cited fears that the stimulus might create a W-shaped slump, "the economy dipping into recession, bouncing back behind the tax rebates, but sliding again after those checks are spent, before we have a real recovery." Unusually, NBC assigned its own correspondent, Chicago-based Kevin Tibbles, to cover the jobs story: for economic news NBC normally relies on reporters from CNBC, its sibling financial news cable channel. Tibbles ticked off weak hiring in manufacturing and construction and retailing before finding "one of the few bright lights." Healthcare continues to hire.


Andrew Tyndall 3/8/08 11:43:20 pm

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