February rate 8.1 percent, not as bad as some analysts feared
The U.S. unemployment rate jumped to 8.1 percent last month from 7.6 percent in January and
employers shed 651,000 jobs, but stock markets initially recovered some because the news was
not as bad as many investors expected.

The job losses were widespread, and the Labor Department revised December and January
figures to show even higher losses than first reported. The jobless rate is now the highest since
December 1983.

Both manufacturing and construction -- two areas whose activity is important to generate freight
demand for materials hauled by trucks, trains, barges and ocean shipping – cut jobs sharply
again in February, although not as much as the month before.

Factories lopped off 168,000 jobs in February after 257,000 in January. Construction gave up
104,000 compared with January’s 118,000.

Economists expect unemployment swell for months to come as demand keeps sliding, yet some
forward-looking early indicators suggest the most severe declines for the industrial and freight
sectors may have been in December and January.

The Obama administration this week began pushing transportation project money out to states
under the new stimulus law, launched a $200 billion effort to buy up consumer debt such as for
automobiles and credit cards, and announced a new effort to help stabilize housing with
measures to help struggling mortgage holders stay in their homes.