Unemployment Rate Highest Since 1983

The unemployment rate has surpassed 10 percent
for the first time since 1983 - and is likely to go higher.
Nearly 16 million people can't find jobs even though the worst
recession since the Great Depression has apparently ended. Many
economists worry that persistently high unemployment could
undermine the recovery by restraining consumer spending, which
accounts for 70 percent of the economy.
The Labor Department says the jobless rate rose to 10.2 percent,
the highest since April 1983, from 9.8 percent in September. The
economy shed a net total of 190,000 jobs in October, fewer than the
downwardly revised 219,000 lost in September, but more than
economists expected.
Economists say the unemployment rate could climb as high as 10.5
percent next year because employers remain reluctant to hire.

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