US employers shed 701,000 jobs in March, unemployment jumped to 4.4%, as coronavirus ravages economy

The U.S. economy lost 701,000 jobs in March, snapping a decade-long record of employment growth, as strict measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic shuttered businesses and forced Americans to stay at home.

It was the first decline in payrolls since September 2010, and the steepest since March 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession.

The unemployment rate jumped to 4.4 percent, up from a half-century low of 3.5 percent in February.

Economists surveyed by Refinitiv had forecast a payroll decline of 100,000 and the unemployment rate to rise to...