As promised, the federal government has released the March unemployment numbers and I’ve got them for you. The highlights (or should I say lowlights):

• 663,000 jobs were cut last month, according to the Labor Department
• The national unemployment rate rose 0.4 percentage points to 8.5 %
• The number of unemployed combined with the underemployed is 15.6% — a steep jump from the 9.1 % rate last March
• 5.1 million jobs have been lost since the start of this recession — and 2/3rd of those lay-offs have come in the last five months
• January job loss numbers were updated to include an additional 86,000 workers

This article from U.S. News & World Report has some good analysis of what the report might mean to you.

My commentary: These figures are disheartening, even if you have a job — and downright depressing if you don’t. I have no doubt that looking for a job in this economic climate must seem like a Herculean task. But remember, people are getting hired everyday and there are opportunities out there. If you keep attacking this mountain, you will make it to the top!