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CBS MarketwatchWASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The fury of the recession intensified in January, as the unemployment rate jumped to 7.6% while 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 after a revised loss of 577,000 in December, the government said. It's 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 saw its largest decline in 26 years.
About 3.6 million jobs have been lost since the recession began just over a year ago; about half of them have been lost in the past three months following the collapse of Lehman Bros.
Total hours worked in the economy fell by 0.7% in January and were down 4.6% from a year earlier. The average workweek was steady at a record-low 33.3 hours.
Meanwhile, a separate survey of households showed 11.6 million people were unemployed and looking for work, totaling 7.6% of the workforce, compared with 7.2% in December. It's the highest unemployment rate since September 1992.
After adding in those who are too discouraged to look for work and those who are forced to cut back their hours to part-time, the alternative unemployment rate rose to 13.9% from 13.5%.
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