US Job Losses Reach 34-Year High, Canada Close Behind

U.S. employers axed payrolls by 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years and far more than expected, government data on Friday showed, as the year-old recession hammered every corner of the U.S. economy.

In a dramatic indication of the worsening situation in the economy, the US jobless rate rose to a 15-year high of 6.7% from 6.5% in October.

Since these latest figures were compiled, further jobs losses have been announced, including big cuts at AT&T.

Recent weak economic data has fuelled fears that the world's biggest economy is set for a deep, long downturn.

November was the 11th month in a row that the economy lost jobs.

"In the past six months the US has lost 1.55 million jobs, almost as many as were lost in the whole 2001 recession," said Ian Shepherdson at High Frequency Economics.

"You can't get much uglier than this. The economy has just collapsed, and has gone into a free fall," said Richard Yamarone at Argus Research in New York.

Canadians lost 71,000 jobs in November – almost triple expectations – and the unemployment rate crept up to 6.3 per cent, as Ontario employers felt the harsh impact of the U.S. recession.