The US economy shed 701,000 jobs in March amid the damage inflicted by the coronavirus shutdowns, while the unemployment rate surged to 4.4 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday.

Musician Lucas Goes wears a mask and gloves as he checks his phone while delivering food for a delivery app in Beverly Hills, California on April 2, 2020, after losing his job during the novel coronavirus outbreak. (Photo: AFP)

That was the worst job loss since March 2009 during the depths of the global financial crisis, and the biggest jump in the jobless rate in more than 45 years, the report said.

However, the Labor Department acknowledged it "cannot precisely quantify the effects of the pandemic on the job market in March."