By Max Showalter, Journal & Courier
mshowalter@journalandcourier.com
The economy in Lafayette and the surrounding area has not produced the kind of crippling developments that have hit other parts of the country.
Nationwide, jobs are vanishing at the fastest pace in more than five years with pink slips likely to keep stacking higher in the months ahead. It's an urgent signal the country may be careening toward a deep and painful recession just as Americans prepare to elect a new president.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor released a report that shows employers cut 159,000 jobs in September, the most in more than five years.
The reduction in payrolls was much sharper than the 100,000 cuts economists were forecasting. It marked the ninth straight month that the economy has lost jobs. A staggering 760,000 jobs have disappeared so far this year.
"We've seen a slight decrease in the number of guys going to work," said Jerry Santen, a representative of Local 215 of the Indiana/Kentucky Regional Council of Carpenters. The union represents workers who pour foundations, install flooring, build walls and ceilings and perform other general construction work.