For the first time in four years, employment in the U.S. dropped in January, strongly indicating that the nation is on the verge of a recession. The decline caught experts by surprise, considering several years of slowing but steady growth, but economists now see the job losses as part of an expanding picture of potential recession that also includes problems in the housing market and on Wall Street.
See "U.S. Economy Unexpectedly Sheds 17,000 Jobs", Michael M. Grynbaum, The New York Times, January 31, 2008