U.S. employers shed 663,000 jobs in March, pushing the nation's unemployment rate to its highest level since 1983 and casting a shadow over recent signs of a stabilizing economy.
The deepening labor-market contraction brought job losses for the recession to 5.1 million, with two-thirds of the cuts coming since November, the Labor Department said. The jobless rate jumped to 8.5% from 8.1% -- and many forecasters expect it to top 10% by later this year.
The downturn, which started in December 2007, appears to be on track to surpass the two longest recessions since the Great Depression. U.S. officials are counting on the government's fiscal-stimulus package to start kicking in by the second half of the year. A sharp drawdown in business inventories is likely to force a rebound in production in the coming months, some economists believe, halting the economic contraction in the second half of the year and setting the stage for growth.
