US unemployment climbed to 8.9 per cent in April, its highest level in a quarter of a century, as the economy shed more than half a million jobs, official figures revealed on Friday.

The latest non-farm payrolls data showed that 539,000 jobs were lost in April, making it the seventh-worst month for job losses in half a century.

The decline was down from a revised 699,000 loss the previous month and the smallest monthly loss total since last October. However, the reduction was mostly due to increased government hiring, boosted by a once-in-a-decade census. In the private sector, 611,000 jobs were lost.

“While it is somewhat encouraging that this number is lower than it has been in each of the past six months, it is a sobering toll,” said Barack Obama, US president. “It underscores the point that we are still in the midst of a recession that was years in the making and will be months or even years in the unmaking.”

FT.com

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