The US economy shed 651,000 jobs in February, pushing the unemployment rate up to 8.1%. Data shows it to be the worst month for the US labour market since 1983.
The number of job losses was in line with most forecasts but highlighted the dire state of the economy as companies reduce their workforce to cope with the deepening slump.
The US Labor Department also revised up its estimate for losses for the previous two months - 655,000 in January from 598,000, and 681,000 in December from 577,000. The figures showed December's losses as the worst on record since October 1949.
The jobless rate rose from 7.6% in January to 8.1% in February.
Since the recession started in December 2007, the economy has shed 4.4 million jobs, with more than half of that number purged in the last four months alone.
