- Friday's March jobs report showed that the US lost 701,000 jobs, much more than the 100,000 economists expected.
- The report also didn't include the last two weeks of the month where a record 10 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance.
- Here's what five economists said about the March jobs report and what they are expecting going forward.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
On Friday, the March jobs report showed that the US economy lost more jobs than economists were expecting, a worrying sign about the damage to come amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The US lost 701,000 jobs in March, a much wider margin than the 100,000 loss economists were expecting and the worst report in a decade. In addition, the Friday report from the Labor Department only includes data through March 14 and thus doesn't reflect the last two weeks of the month when 10 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance.
The report is "grim, but only the start," Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a note Friday. "This is terrible but unfortunately it's nothing compared to what's coming in April."
Economists are certain that there's more pain to come as coronavirus layoffs continue. Here's what five said after the March report on Friday.
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