U.S. exports of manufactured goods have increased ... factory jobs are down 212,000, or 1.5%, the worst year performance in four years

January 4, 2008 | Job market flashing recession | by Jared Bernstein with research assistance from James Lin

The unemployment rate jumped up to 5% last month, and non-government payrolls fell by 13,000, in a far weaker job report than was expected, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report on the labor market for December 2007. Total payrolls rose by 18,000 the weakest month for job growth since August 2003, the last month of the jobless recovery.
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Manufacturing and construction both posted large negatives last month, down 31,000 and 49,000, respectively.

The sharp manufacturing job loss is another big disappointment from today's report. As the value of the U.S. dollar has declined in foreign markets, U.S. exports of manufactured goods have increased. These output gains have not yet, however, translated into job gains. To the contrary, last month's loss was the largest since August. Over the year, factory jobs are down 212,000, or 1.5%, the worst year performance in four years. Within manufacturing, the biggest losses are from the auto sector, down 6,300 over the month and 74,000 over the year. ...