Jobless rate hits 10.2%, first time over 10% since '83
November 16, 2009 12:40 PM
WASHINGTON -- The nation's unemployment rate shot up more sharply than expected last month, to 10.2% from 9.8% in September, as employers shed 190,000 jobs.
It marks the first time since 1983 that the jobless rate has reached 10%. Unemployment for adult men and teen-agers set records as major industries such as construction and manufacturing continue to slash tens of thousands of jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
"It's a very disconcerting report," says Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Economy.com.
Chris Rupkey of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, among the few economists who had been expecting a strong recovery, says the big jump in the unemployment rate "is like a kick in the stomach" to hopes for a robust upturn.
About 15.7 million Americans were out of work in October and 7.3 million have lost their jobs since the recession started in December 2007.
The 190,000 jobs cut from payrolls in October are slightly more than the 175,000 analysts expected. Still, the pace of job losses has been moderating, with an average 188,000 eliminated the past three months, vs. 357,000 the previous three months and 645,000 from November through April.
In addition, BLS revised downward the number of job losses in August and September by about 100,000.
Yet the unemployment rate jumped far above the 9.8% economists were expecting as 558,000 Americans joined the jobless rolls while few left the labor force.
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