COVID-19: US loses over 700,000 jobs in March

The United States witnessed the loss of 701,000 jobs in March raising the nation's unemployment rate by almost one per cent to 4.4 per cent due to the coronavirus pandemic, said the Labor Department in its monthly employment report on Friday.

According to CNN, the American economy lost more jobs than it gained for the first time in a decade.

"Total nonfarm payroll employment fell sharply in March (-701,000), reflecting the effects of the coronavirus and efforts to contain it," the report said, referring to the shutdown of almost every sector of the US economy as more than 80 per cent of 310 million-strong population stayed home to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

According to the report, the unemployment rate increased by 0.9 percentage points in March.

"This is the largest over-the-month increase in the rate since January 1975, when the increase was also 0.9 percentage point."

The Labor Department report showed the worst affected sector for employment in March was leisure and hospitality, specifically food services and drinking places, which accounted for about two-thirds of the job losses.

The US is the new epicentre with over 245,000 confirmed cases of the virus, which is the highest in the world. As of Friday morning, more than 6,000 Americans died from the COVID-19.