 In November 2008, employers eliminated 533,000 jobs, the largest single-month loss in 34 years.In 2008, an estimated 2.6 million U.S. jobs were eliminated.The unemployment rate in the U.S. grew to 8.5 percent in March 2009, and there were 5.1 million job losses by March 2009 since the recession began in December 2007.