Unemployment hits 10.2 percent
Rate spikes to highest level since 1983
November 6, 2009, 9:42 a.m.
STAFF REPORT
In October, the nation's unemployment rate surpassed 10 percent for the first time since 1983, a more severe jump than expected as employers continued to trim jobs from payrolls.
The reading, reported by the government Friday, is a sign of the continued weakness in the labor market even though the economy grew in the third quarter following the longest and deepest downturn since the Great Depression.
The government reported Friday that unemployment rate spiked to 10.2 percent, up from 9.8 percent in September. It is the highest that this rate has been since April 1983.
Economists had forecast an increase to 9.9 percent.
There was also a net loss of 190,000 jobs in October, according to the Labor Department, an improvement from a revised estimate of 219,000 job losses in September.