As coronavirus spread, economy lost 701,000 jobs in March, breaking 10-year string of gains

The U.S. lost 701,000 jobs in March, breaking a remarkable string of uninterrupted payrolls gains the past decade and revealing just the leading edge of the coronavirus-triggered hurricane that's upending America’s economy and labor market.

The unemployment rate jumped to 4.4% from a 50-year low of 3.5%, the Labor Department said Friday.

The report reflects employers’ jitters early in the month over the unprecedented economic fallout from the pandemic. But it doesn’t capture the nearly 10 million laid-off and furloughed Americans who filed initial jobless claims the past two weeks...