91ÊÓƵ

The U.S. unemployment rate jumped to 7.2% in December, a 16-year high, from 6.5% in November, the Labor Department said Friday.

Payrolls declined by 524,000 in December, putting the job losses for 2008 at 2.6 million, the biggest decline since 1945, Bloomberg reported.

Economists had forecast a 525,000 decline in December jobs and the unemployment rate was expected to rise to 7%, Bloomberg said.

Factory payrolls plunged by 149,000, the biggest drop since August 2001, while service industries cut 273,000 workers, Labor said.