National jobless numbers hit home at local employment assistance office

The nation’s unemployment rate bolted to 7.2 in December, the highest since early 1993, as nervous employers slashed 524,000 jobs including Edward Colon’s.The Lawrence assembly line worker was among a dozen jobless applying for employment assistance and benefits at the state Department of Transitional Assistance office in Revere Friday morning. No work means Colon is about to become homeless.”It was a good enough job to keep up a studio apartment,” he said, adding he has been living in temporary housing for two weeks.Leo Welch was also looking for job assistance at DTA’s 300 Ocean Ave. office. The landscaper and mason has not worked in a couple of months.”You do whatever you can,” he said.Welch and Colon are not alone, according to a U.S. Labor Department report, released Friday, underscoring the terrible toll the deepening recession is having on workers and companies, and highlights the hard task President-elect Barack Obama faces in resuscitating the flat-lined economy.For all of 2008, the economy lost a net total of 2.6 million jobs. That was the most since 1945, when nearly 2.8 million jobs were lost. Although the number of jobs in the U.S. has more than tripled since then, losses of this magnitude are still being painfully felt.With employers throttling back hiring, the nation’s jobless rate averaged 5.8 percent last year. That was up sharply from 4.6 percent in 2007 and was the highest since 2003.Marcos Acevedo arrived at the DTA office before 8 a.m. hoping to get help feeding his three kids. The carpenter has been out of work since late last year and the family depended on his wife’s income during the holidays.Although economists were forecasting even more payroll reductions in December – around 550,000 – job losses in both October and November turned out to be deeper than previously estimated. Revised figures showed that the employers slashed 584,000 positions in November and another 423,000 in October.The unemployment rate, meanwhile, rose from 6.8 percent in November to 7.2 percent last month, the highest since January 1993. Economists were expecting the jobless rate to rise to 7 percent.Carol Ross was in Revere looking for her first job. She needs the money to feed her daughter.Associated Press material was used in this report.To view video related to this story visit www.itemlive.com.