WASHINGTON — The government reported today that the U.S. economy lost jobs in February for a second month running and at its fastest pace in five years, making it all the more certain that the nation is slipping into a recession. Separately, the Federal Reserve, concerned about another round of financial market freeze-ups, announced it will boost loans to the nation’s banks that the central bank will make in two auctions this month from $30 billion to $50 billion per auction, and will buy up $100 billion of mostly troubled mortgage-backed securities. Employers’ payrolls dove by 63,000 last month and by a downwardly revised 22,000 the previous month, the Labor Department said this morning. Although the unemployment rate declined a tenth of a point to 4.8%, that was the result of so many people giving up and leaving the labor force, rather than a sign of economic strength, the department said. Read the full story at http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-jobs8mar08,0,3491698.story
