TrimTabs Investment Research Estimates 700,000 to 750,000 Jobs Lost in March; Job Loss of 4.3 Million in the Past Twelve Months Biggest since 1970

Sausalito, CA - April 1st, 2009 - TrimTabs Investment Research estimated today that the U.S. economy lost 700,000 to 750,000 jobs in March as wages and salaries plunged 4.5% year-over-year. TrimTabs estimated that the economy shed 4.3 million jobs in the past 12 months, the largest annual job loss since 1970.

"Job losses have been accelerating in recent months," said Charles Biderman, CEO of TrimTabs. "Investors who think the economy is bottoming out are going to get quite a shock this spring." TrimTabs uses daily income tax withholdings into the US Treasury to estimate changes in employment. According to TrimTabs, the country lost 2.1 million jobs in the past three months and 3.4 million jobs in the past six months.

"For the job loss in March, we refer to a range rather than an exact figure because several special factors skewed the withholdings data," Biderman said.

In a research note, TrimTabs explained that withholding tax rates are changing April 1 due to the "Making Work Pay" tax credit. Lower executive compensation and wage reductions are also depressing growth in withholdings.

In addition, TrimTabs reported that the personal savings rate in February was much lower than the 4.2% reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

"Real-time income tax data indicates that personal income is plummeting and that the savings rate was no more than 0.9% in February," said Biderman. "The only reason the savings rate was positive was that income tax refunds were up sharply relative to last year."

The key macroeconomic and liquidity indicators TrimTabs tracks show no sign of a bottom for the economy. "The economy is still contracting a lot more rapidly than the government is reporting," noted Biderman.