Keeping Track: dotcom layoffs

Last year was a dream-crusher for many Internet-based firms. And last month was a bleak one for "notcoms," particularly manufacturers.

The Labor Department announced Friday that the unemployment rate hit 4.2 percent in January, the highest level in 16 months. Manufacturing was the hardest-hit sector, losing 65,000 jobs last month.

Thousands of dotcom workers were also laid off. The cuts affected many workers at businesses creating Internet technology, and others providing professional services, according to the outplacement company Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

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