News release [includes data and charts]: “Nonfarm payroll employment fell sharply in January (-598,000) and the unemployment rate rose from 7.2 to 7.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment has declined by 3.6 million since the start of the recession in December 2007; about one- half of this decline occurred in the past 3 months. In January, job losses were large and widespread across nearly all major industry sectors.”