However, the unemployment rate didn't start moving higher until the fourth quarter, with a big spike in both November and December.
The big reason for the drop is the huge cratering of goods-producing jobs, which declined by more than 700,000 over the course of the year.
Service producing industries followed s somewhat different trajectory. First, we see increases from January until October, but a pretty sharp drop in November and December.
And overall, we see a drop in government employment, largely as a result of the drop in defense spending related to the Korean war cease-fire.
As a result of the weakening employment picture, real DPI took a hit.
On a continuously compounded annual rate of change basis, real DPI contracted in the third and fourth quarter of 1953
Which we all see in absolute values above.
Below are the graphs from the Economic Report to the President
