March 2009 Unemployment report came out.  At first glance, it appears slightly worse than analysts expected: 8.5% and 663,000 jobs lost.  At second look, it’s actually worse. First, from Calculated Risk: Employment Report: 663K Jobs Lost, 8.5% Unemployment Rate

From the BLS:

Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline sharply in March (-663,000), and the unemployment rate rose from 8.1 to 8.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Since the recession began in December 2007, 5.1 million jobs have been lost, with almost two-thirds (3.3 million) of the decrease occurring in the last 5 months. In March, job losses were large and widespread across the major industry sectors.

Graphs & Three reasons why it’s worse than it sounds: Continue reading →