Unemployment Climbed to 6% in April as 48,000 Jobs Are Cut

The nation's unemployment rate jumped to 6% in April and companies slashed jobs for the third straight month - particularly in manufacturing, airlines, and retail - as the fragile economy continued to quash hiring prospects.

Last month's jobless rate was up two-tenths of a percentage point from March, with payrolls falling by 48,000, the Labor Department reported Friday. Those figures matched economists' expectations.

The economy has lost more than half a million jobs in the past three months as the number of unemployed workers surged to 8.8 million. Nearly 2 million people have been jobless for 27 weeks or more.