The U.S. economy has another shocking month behind it with a whopping 598,000 jobs lost in January, according to the US Labor Department.

This makes it the largest drop in a month since December 1974. The 7.6 per cent unemployment rate also beat records, given that it is the highest rate since the fall of 1992 when 11.6 million people were out of work.

The nation has lost 3.6 million jobs since it slipped into a recession in December 2007. Most economists agree that the unemployment rate will continue to increase, with some estimates going as far as pointing towards a 9 per cent unemployment rate.

December job losses were revised to 577,000, from 524,000.