No Relief as Unemployment Keeps Climbing

Washington, DC, Feb. 6, 2009--The nation's unemployment rate jumped to 7.6% and nonfarm payrolls fell by the largest amount in 34 years, the Labor Department reported Friday.

Nonfarm payrolls fell by a seasonally adjusted 598,000 in January, on the heels of a revised loss of 577,000 in December, the government said.
 
January marked the largest payroll loss since December 1974, according to a survey of workplaces. Payrolls fell by 597,000 in November.

"Job losses were large and widespread across the major industry sectors," said Keith Hall, head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Manufacturing was particularly weak, experiencing its largest decline in 26 years.