Climbing Deeper

No good news on the employment side of the game this morning. The national unemployment rate is now 8.1% but we all know that number doesn't reflect the real number of people unemployed or underemployed which is likely 3 times as high.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The U.S. economy continued to hemorrhage jobs in February, bringing total job losses over the last six months to more than 3.3 million, and taking the unemployment rate to its highest level in 25 years.

The government reported Friday that employers slashed 651,000 jobs in February, down from a revised loss of 655,000 jobs in January. December's loss was also revised higher to a loss of 681,000 jobs, a 59-year high for losses in one month.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a loss of 650,000 jobs in February.

The unemployment rate rose to 8.1% from 7.6% in January. It was the highest reading since December 1983 and higher than economists' projections of 7.9%.

The survey of households found 12.5 million people are now unemployed, the most since records started being kept in 1940.