CSBJ Daily

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Employers buffeted by talk of recession slashed 80,000 jobs during March, the most in five years and the third straight month of losses.

At the same time, the national unemployment rate rose from 4.8 percent to 5.1 percent, the clearest signal yet that the economy might already be shrinking.

The new snapshot of the job market, released by the Labor Department today, underscored the damage that a trio of crises – in the housing, credit and financial sectors – has inflicted on companies, jobseekers and the economy as a whole.

The unemployment rate was the highest since September 2005, when significant job losses followed the devastating blows of Gulf Coast hurricanes.

Job losses were widespread in March. Construction, manufacturing, retailing, financial services and various business services all racked up losses. That overwhelmed gains elsewhere, including in education and health care, leisure and hospitality, as well as in government.

The new employment figures were much weaker than economists expected. They were anticipating a drop of 50,000 payroll jobs and the unemployment rate to rise to 5 percent.