Employers Slash Jobs by Most in 5 years

Economic news just keeps getting worse:

Employers slashed jobs by 63,000 in February, the most in five years, the starkest sign yet the country is heading dangerously toward recession or is in one already.

The Labor Department's report, released Friday, also showed that the nation's unemployment rate dipped to 4.8 percent as hundreds of thousands of people — perhaps discouraged by their prospects — left the civilian labor force. The jobless rate was 4.9 percent in January.

The consumer thinks things are bad:

Confidence in the economy dropped to a new low as worries about a possible recession, persistent problems in the housing and credit markets and lofty energy prices put people in a more gloomy mind-set.

According to the RBC Cash Index, confidence sank to a mark of 33.1 in early March, down from 48.5 in February. The new reading was the worst since the index began in 2002 and surpassed the previous low reached in February.

[...]The continued deterioration in confidence comes even as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has signaled that the central bank will keep on cutting a key interest rate to bolster the economy. Congress and the White House, meanwhile, have speedily enacted a relief package that includes tax rebates for people and tax breaks for businesses. Rebates of up to $600 for individuals or $1,200 for married couples should start going out in May.

Over the past year, consumer confidence has fallen sharply, underscoring the toll of the ailing housing market and a credit crunch that has made it more difficult for people to secure financing for big-ticket purchases such as homes and cars. Last March, confidence stood at 92.3. The index is based on results of the international polling firm Ipsos.