Economics: Zero Job Growth Latest Bleak Sign for U.S. Economy

We have virtually the same number of jobs as we did in January 2000, said Patrick J. O'Keefe, the director of economic research at J. H. Cohn, an accounting firm. Were jobs to continue to grow at the 2011 monthly average, it would take more than four years to return to the prerecession employment level.

Governments continued to cut jobs, the Labor Department reported. Small gains at the state level were attributed in part to the return of workers from the government shutdown in Minnesota. Local governments lost 20,000 jobs as they continued to struggle with budget shortfalls and the disappearance of federal stimulus money.

For more, see Zero Job Growth Latest Bleak Sign for U.S. Economy by Shaila Dewan, September 2, 2011 at NYTimes.com.