Unemployment rate hits double digits, at 26-year high: Unemployment rate is highest in 26 years |
By Don Lee, Chicago Tribune Nov. 7--WASHINGTON -- -- The nation's unemployment rate surged to 10.2 percent in October, hitting double digits for the first time in 26 years. The unexpectedly sharp increase, from 9.8 percent in September, came as employers dropped 190,000 workers from their payrolls last month. The report did offer glimmers of hope, however. The Labor Department said job losses in September and August were a combined 91,000 fewer than previously estimated, and last month continued a trend of moderating job reductions this year. Moreover, employment in the temporary-help industry, considered a harbinger of broader hiring, has begun to grow again. But unemployment had been steadily rising in recent months, and the double-digit figure is likely to have a major psychological effect as well as potentially significant consequences in Washington. With the midterm elections looming, said Robert Reich, the former labor secretary in the Clinton administration who teaches at the University of California- Berkeley, "the 10 percent is going to give Republicans more ammunition to criticize the [Obama] administration and force the hand of the administration to at least appear to be taking additional steps to remedy the situation." The last time the jobless rate crossed double digits was during the recession and initial recovery of the early 1980s. Then, unemployment hit 10.1 percent in September 1982, rose to a high of 10.8 percent in late 1982 and stayed above 10 percent until July 1983. This time, unemployment has risen quickly and, by some analysts' reckoning, could hover around 10 percent much longer. Tribune Newspapers reporter Jim Puzzanghera contributed to this report. dlee2@tribune.com ----- To see more of the Chicago Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.chicagotribune.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Chicago Tribune Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. A service of YellowBrix, Inc. |
| |||||