December 05, 2008

Junk bond peddlers should have taken a vacation in November. That’s because there were no — count ‘em, zero — high-yield corporate bond deals done last month on the entire planet, according to data from Thomson Reuters. That is the worst showing since March 1991, when the market for junk debt, more politely known as high yield, was in ashes.

U.S. companies slashed payrolls last month at the fastest pace in 34 years as the economy headed for its deepest and longest recession since World War II.

Employers cut 533,000 jobs, bringing losses so far this year to 1.91 million, the Labor Department said today in Washington.