The US economy shed jobs at a searing pace for a second month in a row during November as the unemployment rate shot up to its highest level in more than six years.
The figures were released in a government report that implied the recession may bite deeper and longer than thought.
Canada's jobless rate also rose, reaching a two-year high of 7.5 per cent in November, according to government figures released today.
The US Labor Department said another 331,000 non-farm jobs were lost last month - far worse than the 189,000 that Wall Street economists had anticipated - on top of a revised 468,000 that were cut in October. Previously, the department said 415,000 jobs were shed in October.
The unemployment rate climbed to 5.7 per cent in November from 5.4 per cent in October. That is the highest jobless rate since a matching 5.7 per cent in August 1995.
The October and November job losses, blamed partly on the September 11th attacks, were the worst for any two months in more than 20 years, since May and June of 1980, department officials said.
The Canadian unemployment rate rose to its highest level since August 1999, pushed up by an increase in the number of job seekers.
Analysts said the report did little to change the view the Bank of Canada will lower rates only once more, probably by a modest 25 basis points in January. The central bank has cut rates nine times this year to support the sagging economy.