Jobs: Worst in 5 years

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Employers made deeper cuts in their payrolls in September, according to the Labor Department's monthly jobs report, as the economy experienced the biggest drop in jobs in more than five years.

asr: it seems overall (whole year) 2008 saw 1 million jobs lost
- see monthly chart at the right hand side of cnn post

There was a net loss of 159,000 jobs in September, the ninth straight month the U.S. economy has lost jobs. The August job loss was revised to 73,000 jobs, taking year-to-date job losses to 760,000.

"This marks a clear downshift in the economy," said Robert Dye, senior economist with PNC Financial Services Group.

Job losses were again widespread.
Manufacturing lost 51,000
jobs while construction employment shrank further by 35,000 jobs.
But retailers also trimmed payrolls by 40,000 workers,
and the leisure and hospitality industries cut 17,000 jobs.

Professional and business services, a catch-all category seen by some as a proxy for overall economic activity, had a 27,000 drop in employment.