The unemployment rate soared to 6.1 percent in August as employers eliminated 84,000 jobs, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.

According to The New York Times, 605,000 jobs have been cut since January, with 100,000 job cuts in June, the first time the economy has seen a six-digit monthly loss in years. The unemployment rate is up from 5.7 percent in July and stands at the highest level since September 2003.

Employment fell in manufacturing and business services, but jobs in health care increased.

Meanwhile, wages have not kept up with inflation. Hourly wages for nonsupervisory workers have grown 3.6 percent since August 2007, below the rate of inflation.

Stocks plummeted with the news. At 10:10 a.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was down 122.37 points to 11,065.86, the Nasdaq composite index was down 35.67 points to 1,223.37 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 16.66 points to 1,220.17.