Mainstream economic forecasts had projected job losses of around 350,000 _ about the same as May's initial numbers _ so the June employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics dampened hopes that the U.S. economy was getting back on its feet. June broke a four-month streak of consecutively better employment reports.

"Job losses were widespread across the major industry sectors, with large declines occurring in manufacturing, professional and business services, and construction," the bureau said Friday in its monthly Employment Situation Summary.

Wall Street didn't like the surprise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by more than 135 points within the first 10 minutes of trading Friday morning.

The numbers were a setback to the Obama administration, which is hoping that its stimulus spending will spark life into the sluggish economy.

"Of course they are disappointing," Christina Romer, the head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said on CNBC television.

As if Americans needed the grim reminder, the bureau also said that since the recession began in December 2007 "the number of unemployed persons has increased by 7.2 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 4.6 percentage points."

Adding to the sense of gloom in Friday's report, statisticians said that average hourly pay was flat in June and average weekly pay fell 1.85 percent. The average workweek for most workers fell by a 10th of a percentage point to 33 hours, the lowest level since authorities began keeping records in 1964.

Average earnings and hours worked are important harbingers of economic activity. Consumption drives about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, and workers who work less and earn less tend to spend less, too.

"With jobs rapidly plummeting, we can anticipate further job erosion. With wage growth essentially nil for two months, we can anticipate a weak recovery," said Larry Mishel, the president of the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal research center. "Unfortunately, this administration was thrown into an abyss not fully anticipated and now must confront this employment crisis."

In a separate analysis, the institute said that June's job losses marked a devastating watershed. The entire growth in jobs over the last nine years now has been wiped out; the economy has fewer jobs than it had in May 2000. The labor force, however, has grown by 12.5 million workers since then, the institute said.