And, according to a household survey, which "seems to have a better track record of where the economy is heading," said Bernard Baumohl, managing director at The Economic Outlook Group in New Jersey, the job market looks even worse.
This survey shows that only 8,000 jobs on average have been added each month — a 97% difference from last year's monthly additions of 262,000.
However, chief U.S. economist at Morgan Stanley in New York Richard Berner said, "I think all these statistics should be taken with a grain of salt."
Wage and salary income also seem to be heading downward. Instead of increasing by the estimated 4.5%, they increased by only 1.6% this year.
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