Job losses push U.S. Closer to recessionhttp://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=450652...

The United States received the first crucial evidence yesterday
that the tumbling housing market and a vicious credit crunch
may be pushing it toward recession after figures showed it
shed 4,000 jobs in August -- its first outright decline in four years.

The stunning number -- economists were forecasting a 100,000 gain --
coupled with downward revisions to previous months,
sent stock markets reeling and the U.S. greenback to a 15-year low
against major currencies, and raised speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve
may chop interest rates 50 basis points instead of 25 at its Sept. 18 meeting.

"The [U.S.] jobs data ... is simply horrific and fans
the most pessimistic fears -- the housing market woes
will undermine the U.S. consumer, push the U.S. economy into recession
and drag down growth in much of the rest of the world,"
said Marc Chandler, foreign-exchange strategist at
Brown Brothers Harriman in New York. "

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against
a basket of currencies, fell to its lowest level in 15 years
while investors fled to the safe haven of gold and U.S. treasuries.

While the United States managed to hold its unemployment rate
steady at 4.6%, details of the payroll report were poor with
manufacturers, builders and even the government shedding jobs. ...