by Laura Conaway

The U.S. unemployment numbers for January are in, and my, my, my. We're at 7.6 percent joblessness, up from 7.2 in December.

That's 7.6 percent of the American workforce waking up today with no clear way to provide for themselves and their families, no clear sense of where or when they'll work next, no clear sense of when this will get better or which resume will finally do the trick. The Bureau of Labor Statistics writes, "Payroll employment has declined by 3.6 million since the start of the recession in December 2007; about one-half of this decline occurred in the past 3 months."

Ian Shepherdson's take, after the jump:

 

Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics, runs the numbers, and adds a little spice:

January payrolls fell 598K, worse than the consensus -540K. The unemployment rate jumped to 7.6% from 7.2%, above the consensus, 7.5%. Earnings rose 0.3%, a tenth more than expected.

Another horrific report, showing job losses across the economy. Manuf jobs down a huge 207K - that's a 1.6% drop in one month -construction down 111K, retail down 45K, business services down 121K. The only private sector gain was in education and health.

Household survey employment fell 1.239 million, the worst since records began in 1948. Only a dip in participation prevented an even bigger rise in the unemployment rate. The strength in wages, up 3.9% y/y, won't last. It reflects the lagged effect of the rise in inflation last year. Wage gains will soon plunge. If ever there were an economy in need of stimulus, this is it.