U.S. Payrolls Fall 701,000 in Preview of Job-Loss Deluge to Come

U.S. employment plummeted last month by a degree not seen since the last recession, in just an early glimpse of the devastation from the coronavirus pandemic.

Payrolls fell 701,000 from the prior month -- compared with the median forecast of economists for a 100,000 decline -- according to Labor Department data Friday that mainly covered the early part of March, before government-mandated shutdowns forced firms to lay off millions more workers. This was the first decline in monthly payrolls since 2010.

The jobless rate jumped to 4.4% -- the highest since 2017 -- from a half-century low of 3.5%, and ...