The unemployment rate jumped to 7.2 percent in December from 6.8 percent in November and 5 percent last April, when the recession was four months old and just beginning to bite. More than 11 million Americans are now unemployed.

Economists fell over themselves in describing the dire nature of the jobs report, which they said was alarming confirmation that the economy was in the midst of a sharp contraction.

“The toughest six months will be the just-completed fourth quarter and the first quarter of this year,” said Robert Barbera, chief economist at the Investment Technology Group, a research and trading firm. He said that a stimulus package, if it is large enough, should begin to revive the economy in the second half.

President-elect Barack Obama said Friday that the alarming figures showed that Washington must act quickly and decisively to enact a stimulus plan. Behind the numbers, he said, are “real lives, real suffering, real fears.”

Mr. Obama said he remained open to “a whole host” of ideas from Democrats and Republicans alike and was focused on getting something done rather than who gets credit for it. Asked at a news conference whether he was worried that some lawmakers think his proposed stimulus program, with a cost estimated at $775 billion, was too big, while others think it is too small, he said he was open to consultations with Congress.

But the president-elect said he would insist on quick action. “I have every expectation that we will get it done,” he said. “You are assuming that I expected it to be easy,” he told one questioner. “No.”

On Wall Street, the markets fell on the report, with all three major exchanges down more than one percent.

The 7.2 percent was the highest unemployment rate since January 1993, when the country was still shaking off a jobless recovery from the 1990-91 recession. The loss in total jobs for 2008 was the largest since 1945.

“These numbers, back to back, of more than a half million a month suggest that the U.S. economy is in a freefall,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight. “It’s scary, and it indicates that unless something is done and done quickly to turn this economy around, we’re looking at an awful situation this year.”

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