INSTANT VIEW - U.S. employers cut 524,000 jobs in Dec

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. employers slashed payrolls by 524,000 in December, driving the unemployment rate to its highest level in almost 16 years, a government report showed on Friday, suggesting that the year-long recession was deepening.

KEY POINTS:

* The Labour Department said the national unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent in December, the highest level since January 1993. The jobless rate was 6.8 percent in November.

* Analysts polled by Reuters predicted a reduction of 550,000 jobs in December.

* November's job losses were revised to show a cut of 584,000, previously reported as a 533,000 loss, while October's losses were revised to 423,000 from a decline of 320,000.

* With those revisions, the total reduction in U.S. nonfarm payrolls in the four months through December was 1.9 million.

COMMENTS:

CARY LEAHEY, ECONOMIST, DECISION ECONOMICS, NEW YORK:

"You got a short rally in the two-year Treasury note which is not unexpected given the jump in the unemployment rate.