US companies cut more than 300,000 jobs from their payrolls in February, which has raised concern among economists about the state of the US economy. The increase in joblessness of 308,000 sent the unemployment rose up to 5.8pc from the 5.7pc posted in January when there was an increase of 185,000 jobs. The February job loss was the largest since 327,000 positions were lost in the month after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington. The level of rising unemployment has "serious potential consequences" for the US economy, according to analysts at Lehman Brothers in New York. Analysts had forecast that payrolls would drop by just 70,000 and the unemployment rate would rise to 5.8pc.
Job losses were widespread across the economy in February. "The widespread declines in February reflected continued weakness in manufacturing and substantial job losses in construction, retail trade, services, and transportation," said Kathleen Utgoff, commissioner of the bureau of Labour Statistics. Employment in the services sector plunged by 204,000 last month, the biggest decline since November 2001, after rising 166,000 the previous month. Meanwhile, in the manufacturing sector, employers laid off staff for the 31st month in a row with 53,000 jobs shed in February. //www.fxcentre.com