The Bureau of Labor Statistics released unemployment figures for March this morning.  Nonfarm payroll employment dropped 663,000 jobs last month, and unemployment rose to 8.5%--the highest since November 1983 (when the rate was also 8.5%).  

Manufacturing was hardest hit, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, losing 161,000 jobs in March.  Health Care was the only sector with an increase in jobs, adding a modest 8,000 jobs in the month. As bad as these numbers look, the Washington Post points out that the labor market is actually significantly weaker than the official report shows.

Groups excluded from the official count include people who are working part time but would rather be working full time, people who want to work but haven't looked for a job in the past month, and people who have become discouraged and given up looking. If those groups are included, the unemployment rate is 16.2 percent, up slightly from February.

The Post's Ed O'Keefe provides a good primer of exactly how the BLS goes about compiling and releasing the unemployment figures here:

Read the BLS release here.