The Labor Department released its monthly jobs report this morning, and number certainly don’t look promising. The good news, however, is nobody thought they would look promising, so it’s no shocker. In fact, analysts polled by Reuters were predicting heavier job losses.

December Unemployment at 7.2%

December’s jobless rate came in at 7.2%, up 0.4% from November’s 6.8% rate. December’s number marks the highest unemployment rate in nearly 16 years.

November, October Job Losses Revised

November’s job losses were revised to show a 533,000 loss, and October’s numbers were revised to 423,000 from 320,000.

December Job Losses: 524,000

December saw 524,000 jobs lost, bringing the total reduction in U.S. non-farm payrolls in the four months through December to 1.9 million. The services sector got hit the hardest with a staggering 273,000 jobs lost, contributing a great deal to the 524,000 total.

2008 Totals:

Total jobs lost for 2008: 2.6 million. That number represents the largest decline since 1945.

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