WTF Is It Now?!?

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The Bush economy
Job growth came to an "unexpected" halt in December, and rather than hunt for scarce work, tens of thousands of people disappeared from the labor force, the NY Times is reporting.

Jebus - it sounds like part of the script for Soylent Green.

Most forecasters had said they thought December would be a breakthrough month for job creation, given the "strengthening economy." But instead of the 150,000 new jobs they had expected, there were a "pitiful and pathetic" minuscule 1,000. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.7 percent from 5.9 percent in November, but that was mainly because so many people chose not to look for work, a requirement to be counted as unemployed.

Last year - 2003 - was the most difficult for US job hunters since 1983, as they faced the gloomiest job market in years, according to Labor Department figures released on Friday. The unemployment rate was the highest since 1994, and the search for a new job was the longest in two decades. Maybe we can get jobs working on the new Mars shuttle {Not after THIS web page! - Ed.}.