US jobless rate climbs to 8.1%

U.S. Jobless rate Increases:
The US jobless rate jumped in February to 8.1%, according to official figures from the U.S. Labor Department. The number of people out of work rose by 651,000 during the month.Both figures are bigger than expected.
A total of 12.5 million people are now unemployed in the US.

President Obama said that the number of jobs lost so far in the recession was "astounding" adding that he had signed his economic stimulus package in order to save jobs.Rising unemployment has also meant greater demand for free meals.

Across sectors:
Jobs were cut in most sectors, with only government, education and health services adding staff.
In the manufacturing sector 168,000 jobs were cut in the month.
104,000 jobs went in construction and 375,000 were cut in the service sector.

Grim Future Ahead:
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress earlier in the week that economic indicators "show little sign of improvement" and that "labor market conditions may have worsened further in recent weeks".