03.04.202012:39:00UTC+00U.S. Employment Plunges Much More Than Expected In March

Employment in the U.S. fell much more than expected in the month of March, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The report said employment plunged by 701,000 jobs in March after jumping by an upwardly revised 275,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected employment to slump by 100,000 jobs compared to the addition of 273,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

With the much bigger than expected drop in employment, the unemployment rate surged up to 4.4 percent in March from 3.5 percent in February. The unemployment rate had been expected to climb to 3.8 percent.