WASHINGTON-- Another 663,000 jobs were lost in March and unemployment rose, while for-hire trucking payrolls fell nearly 15,000, reports the American Trucking Associations.

The overall unemployment rate has increased to 8.5 percent, which is up half a percentage point from February.

However, there were some glimmers of hope in some numbers last week that are used to measure the manufacturing sector in the U.S.

According to the economists at the ATA, for-hire trucking payrolls fell by 14,900 in March. The good news, however, is that the Department of Labor revised its January and February numbers, saying they had overstated the job loss. The DOL originally reported that trucking employment fell by 24,800 and 33,400 in January and February, respectively.  

Canadian employment over the last four years

In Canada, Stats Canada reports today that total employment declined by 61,000 in March, all in full-time work. This pushes the national unemployment rate to 8 percent, the highest in seven years.

The agency didn't note transportation as one of worst-hit sectors as it did in January. Losses were widespread across a number of industries, most notably in manufacturing; finance, insurance, real estate and leasing; construction; and natural resources.

Also last week, the Institute for Supply Management in the U.S. announced that its purchasing managers' index (PMI), a widely used measure of overall manufacturing activity, was up slightly, from 35.8 percent in February to 36.3 in March.

Despite the monthly improvement, however, ATA economist Bob Costello noted that "total new orders were still off 18.8 percent from a year earlier, the third-worst year-over-year contraction of this cycle. Thus, we still have a long way to go before we can say that the manufacturing industry is on the road to recovery."