The US economy last month lost 308,000 jobs, the most since the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Unemployment approached an eight-year high as the economy stumbled amid preparations for a war with Iraq.
The jobless rate rose to 5.8 percent last month from 5.7 percent in January, the Labor Department said. Joblessness reached 6 percent in December, the highest since 1994.
The unexpected drop in payrolls followed an increase of 185,000 jobs in January. This month's job loss was the largest since 327,000 positions were eliminated in November 2001.
Companies say sluggish demand and the threat of war are prompting them to delay investing and hiring. Manufacturing growth slowed last month, and consumer confidence slumped to a nine-year low, damped by the tight job market and slowing income growth.
Economists say that may pressure household spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy.
The payroll drop "has serious potential consequences for the US economy," said Joseph Abate, a senior economist at Lehman Brothers Inc in New York, before the report.
"It points to slow consumer spending and will mute the strength of the economic recovery," he said.
Economists had expected payrolls to rise by 10,000 last month following a previously reported increase of 143,000 in January, based on the median of 65 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. No economist expected payrolls to decline by more than 75,000. The unemployment rate was expected to rise to 5.8 percent.
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