BUSINESS BRIEFING / ECONOMY
Times Wire Reports
Companies cut 697,000 jobs in the U.S. in February as the recession’s grip tightened, offering no sign the pace of the decline in payrolls is easing.
The drop in the ADP Employer Services gauge, a survey based on payroll data, was larger than economists had forecast and followed a revised cut of 614,000 workers the previous month.
Employers are cutting payrolls as demand plummets in the face of strained credit and battered housing and equity markets.
