As government data revealed that 651,000 more jobs disappeared in February, a sense took hold that growing joblessness may reflect a wrenching restructuring of the American economy.<\/p>\n
The unemployment rate surged to 8.1 percent, from 7.6 percent in January, its highest level in a quarter-century. In key industries \u201d\u201d manufacturing, financial services and retail \u201d\u201d layoffs have accelerated so quickly in recent months as to suggest that many companies are abandoning whole areas of business.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese jobs aren\u2019t coming back,\u201d\u009d said John E. Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia in Charlotte, N.C. \u201cA lot of production either isn\u2019t going to happen at all, or it\u2019s going to happen somewhere other than the United States. There are going to be fewer stores, fewer factories, fewer financial services operations. Firms are making strategic decisions that they don\u2019t want to be in their businesses.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n