Earn What You Spend

Some downturns only affect certain sectors (technology, for instance).  Others begin in one sector, and slowly creep into others, yet remain concentrated in that first sector. And yet others are broad, across-the-board recessions that leave no corner untouched.  

That’s the kind we are in.   From the WSJ:

“The pace at which this thing has spread geographically and through industries is remarkable,” said Charles W. McMillion, president and chief economist at MBG Information Services, a Washington research firm.

The nation lost about two million jobs in the final four months of 2008, cutting across sectors from manufacturing to retailing and professional and business services. On Monday, companies from a broad swath of industries announced job cuts, including retailer Home Depot Inc., heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. and cellphone-service provider Sprint Nextel Corp.

Likewise, job losses have been geographically broad. The unemployment rate increased in every state and the District of Columbia in December.

What started as a housing bubble has now impacted virtually every sector of the global economy. Where are the layoffs happening now? 

Some of the biggest increases came in states with a large number of finance jobs, as the financial crisis has translated into layoffs. New York and Massachusetts each saw their unemployment rates increase by one percentage point. North Carolina, home to embattled banks Wachovia Corp. — purchased by Wells Fargo & Co. in December — and Bank of America Corp., saw its unemployment rate increase 0.9 percentage point. For the nation as a whole, the unemployment rate was 7.2% in December.

One troubling sign is that states that were first into recession — generally those with a heavy concentration of home building and manufacturing — are getting worse, not better. 

So we can take a look at where these layoffs are happening most quickly:

We’re seeing pretty sharp upticks in places like North Carolina (home to Wachovia and Bank of America) and Florida:

Things aren’t pretty out there.