The Labor department is reporting that 2008 was the worst year for job losses since 1945, with 2.6 million people out of work.  That is a 12 for 12 consecutive loss for the last 12 months.

Generally when the new unemployment numbers come out, I take a look at analysis from Mike Shedlock (Mish) who has a very good way of presenting the information, plus, the guy’s a genius.

While the official figures show a 7.2% unemployment rate, if we look at :

• all the people that want a job but gave up
• all the people with part-time jobs that want a full-time job
• all the people who dropped off the unemployment rolls because their unemployment benefits ran out, etc.,

We get a figure of 13.5% !!

This is the REAL unemployment rate.

I think over the next 12 months, we can easily lose an additional 2 million jobs. Every retailer and their mother is laying employees off in the coming two quarters. Get ready for the employment S to hit the F.

No one will be safe in the next 12 months. Employers will have to cut costs or risk going out of business. And, if they have to run at 50% capacity on their service/manufacturing floors, they’ll do it. That means employees will be collateral damage.

Save money now! Get as liquid as possible. The worst is yet to come!