Unemployment in the US climbed in January to the highest level since 1992 and payrolls dropped more than forecast as the recession showed no sign of abating.
The jobless rate rose to 7.6 per cent from 7.2 per cent in December, the Labor Department said today in Washington.
Payrolls fell by 598,000, the biggest monthly decline since December 1974, after dropping by 577,000 in the previous month.
The loss of jobs, at employers ranging from manufacturers like Caterpillar Inc. to retailers such as Macy's, is shattering consumer confidence and crippling spending.
President Barack Obama is likely to use the first employment report since he took office to prod lawmakers into agreeing on a compromise economic stimulus package by the end of this month.
"We're losing jobs at an alarming pace and bracing for more weakness,'' Scott Anderson, senior economist at Wells Fargo in Minneapolis, said before the report.
"The private sector is flat on its back at this point. The government needs to step in with a stimulus, the sooner the better."
With a revised decline of 597,000 jobs in November, revisions subtracted 66,000 workers from previously reported payroll figures for the last two months of 2008.
The US economy has now lost a total of 3.57 million jobs since the recession started in December 2007, the biggest employment slump of any economic contraction in the postwar period.
Last month's payroll losses mark the first time since records began in 1939 that job cuts exceeded half a million in three consecutive months.
Payrolls were forecast to drop 540,000, according to the median estimate of 75 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Estimates of job losses ranged from 400,000 to 750,000.
The jobless rate was projected to jump to 7.5 per cent. Forecasts ranged from 7.3 per cent to 7.6 per cent.
The House of Representatives last week passed an $819 billion stimulus package that includes tax cuts and infrastructure spending. The Senate is working on a plan that is closer to $900 billion.
Today's report showed factory payrolls decreased by 207,000, the biggest drop since October 1982, after declining 162,000 in the prior month.
Economists had forecast a January drop of 145,000. The decrease included a loss of 31,300 jobs in auto manufacturing and parts industries.
Payrolls at builders declined 111,000 after decreasing 86,000. Service industries, which include banks, insurance companies, restaurants and retailers, subtracted 279,000 workers after cutting 327,000. Retail payrolls decreased by 45,100 after a decline of 82,700.
Financial firms reduced payrolls by 42,000, after a 27,000 decrease the prior month. Government payrolls increased by 6,000 after shrinking by 10,000 the prior month.
Bloomberg