Unemployment Hits 10.2 Percent

The nation's unemployment rate rose from 9.8 percent in September to 10.2 percent in October, the highest it has been since April of 1983, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Nov. 6. Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline, shedding 190,000 jobs over the month, BLS said. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 8.2 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 5.3 percentage points, according to the bureau. In the most recent three months, job losses have averaged 188,000 per month, compared with losses averaging 357,000 during the prior three. In contrast, losses averaged 645,000 per month from November 2008 to April 2009.