Job Losses Hit 533,000 Last Month, Worst in 34 Years

U.S. employers axed payrolls by a shocking 533,000 in November for the weakest performance in 34 years, government data on Friday showed, as the recession inflicted a mounting toll on the U.S. labor market.

The Labor Department said the unemployment rate rose to 6.7 percent last month in the highest reading since 1993, compared with 6.5 percent in October, after widespread losses across the country's major industry sectors.

The number was far above analyst expectations.

"The only time I've experienced this was the second quarter of 1980 where we had the credit crunch, so rather than an erosion, you have an absolute shutdown," Robert Barbera, chief economist at ITG, said on CNBC. "This is a minus-8, minus-8.5 GDP kind of number."

November's job losses were the steepest since December 1974, when 602,000 jobs were shed, and were much worse than forecast by analysts polled by Reuters who had predicted a reduction of 340,000 jobs.

In addition, October's job losses were revised to show a cut of 320,000, previously reported as a 240,000 loss, while September's losses were revised to a loss of 403,000 from down 284,000.

That meant 199,000 more jobs were lost in September and October than previously thought and the total reduction in U.S. nonfarm payrolls for last three months was 1.256 million, with almost 2 million shed in the year so far.

Service-providing businesses alone shed 370,000 jobs in November, following a loss of 153,000 jobs the month before.

The length of the workweek slipped to 33.5 hours, the shortest since records began in 1964, a Labor Department official said.

"The only way out is for the government to be extremely aggressive on every front:  The Federal Reserve, economic stimulus, help for the automakers, extending out TARP money, everything, because we're now in a self-reinforcing negative cycle, and the only way out is for the government to fill the void," Mark Zandi, Moody's Economy.com chief economist, told CNBC.

Job losses were widespread, hitting factories, construction companies, financial firms, retailers, leisure and hospitality, and others industries. The few places where gains were logged included the government, education and health services.

The job reductions were the most since a whopping 602,000 positions were slashed in December 1974, when the country was in a severe recession.

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Job losses in September and October also turned out to be much worse. Employers cut 403,000 jobs in September, versus 284,000 previously estimated. Another 320,000 were chopped in October, compared with an initial estimate of 240,000.

Employers are slashing costs to the bone as they try to cope with sagging appetites from customers in the U.S. and in other countries, which are struggling with their own economic troubles.

The carnage—including the worst financial crisis since the 1930s—is hitting a wide range of companies.

In recent days, household names like AT&T , DuPont , JPMorgan Chase , as well as jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of United Technologies , and mining company Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold announced layoffs.

Fighting for their survival, the chiefs of Chrysler, General Motors and Ford Motor will return Friday to Capitol Hill to again ask lawmakers for as much as $34 billion in emergency aid.

Workers with jobs saw modest wage gains. Average hourly earnings rose to $18.30 in November, a 0.4 percent increase from the previous month. Over the year, wages have grown 3.7 percent, but paychecks haven't stretched that far because of high prices for energy, food and other items.

—Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

© 2008 CNBC