WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers cut far more jobs than expected last month and the unemployment rate hit a nearly 26-year high of 9.5 percent, underscoring the likelihood of a long and slow recovery from recession.

The loss of 467,000 jobs reported by the Labor Department on Thursday was 100,000 more than Wall Street economists had expected and was spread widely across economic sectors.

The economy has lost 6.5 million nonfarm jobs since the recession began in December 2007 and the unemployment rate has nearly doubled in that time.