The month of April was no different to the previous as U.S. employers were once again left with no option but to slash their workforce yet again as the recession took another bite of the economy, slashing jobs by 539,000.

The unemployment rate soared to 8.9 percent, the highest since September 1983, from 8.5 percent in March and job losses in March and February were a combined 66,000 steeper than previously estimated, according to the Labor Department.

In Washington, President Obama called the increase in unemployment a “sobering toll” of the recession and warned of more job losses ahead.

Obama said that a recovery could take months or years.

Despite the decline, the number of jobs lost in April has been the fewest since last October.

“The gears of our economic engine do appear to be slowly turning once again,” Mr. Obama said. “Step by step, we’re beginning to make progress.”

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