The number of temporary jobs in the US fell by 49,500 to 2.89 million in March while total employment fell by 701,000, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, the numbers reflect only the beginning stages of the Covid-19 crisis as the surveys on which the data is based closed in the middle of March as the fight against the virus ramped up.

“Given the timing of the survey reference periods in this month’s jobs report, the magnitude of job losses for ‘March’ only reflects the beginning of the pandemic,” said Tony Gregoire, director of custom research at SIA.

In March, the temp penetration rate fell to 1.91% from 1.93% in February. Temp jobs were down nearly 2.0% on a year-over-year basis.

The US unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in March from 3.5% in February. The college-level unemployment rate jumped to 2.5%. in March from 1.9% in February.

Jobs in the “leisure and hospitality” industry fell by 459,000 in March with most of the declines, 417,000, in “food services and drinking places,” according to the BLS. The decline nearly offset gains over the previous two years.

Healthcare employment fell by 43,000, including job losses at dentist offices by 17,000; offices of physicians by 12,000; and offices of other healthcare practitioners by 7,000.

But more job losses will come as the full extent of the Covid-19 crisis appears in later data releases.

“Overall, while we are seeing a slowdown in March, the real impact will not hit until April or May, as corporate America reprioritizes its key initiatives,” said Harley Lippman, CEO of IT staffing firm Genesis10. “IT staffing is slow but consistent; employment decisions have been delayed with some operating under a hiring freeze until they can get their arms around the impact of Covid-19 on their business ecosystem.”

The Conference Board said the loss of 701,000 jobs, one of the biggest in history, is only a taste of what is to come.

“Unfortunately, this drop reflects just a fraction of the deterioration in labor market conditions during that month,” according to The Conference Board. “March’s jobs report mostly omits developments that took place in the second half of the month. The 10 million people who filed for unemployment benefits in the last two weeks of March were mostly not included in the March unemployment count.”

March’s 4.4% unemployment rate is only a step toward the 15% unemployment rate that has been projected in May, The Conference Board said. However, it noted some facts about today’s BLS report, including that 60% of the entire job loss came from one industry segment: “Food services and drinking places.”

It also noted average hourly earnings posted a significant jump, but for the wrong reasons. Large layoffs of mostly low-paid workers raised the average pay.

Separately, there are some reports of companies holding off on layoffs for now.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a serious toll on the American workforce, and many industries have been forced to lay off or furlough employees during this crisis,” said Dan Davenport, president and general manager of Randstad RiseSmart. “But we’re also seeing organizations who are focused on taking care of their employees as much as possible, with some pledging to postpone layoffs for 60 or 90 days.”