In worrisome sign, employers cut jobs by most in five years
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By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer 7 minutes ago
Employers slashed payrolls by 159,000 in September, the most in more than five years, a worrisome sign that the economy is hurtling toward a deep recession.
The Labor Department's fresh snapshot, released Friday, also showed that the nation's unemployment rate held steady at 6.1 percent as hundreds of thousands of people streamed out of the work force for any number of reasons.
The reduction in payrolls was much sharper than the 100,000 cuts economists were forecasting. They expected the jobless rate to be unchanged.
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