Unemployment rate increases to 10.2%

Last month, the United States’ unemployment rate was 9.8%, the newest figures show that the unemployment rate has increased to 10.2% and it is the highest it has been since April of 1983. Official figures show that the country lost 190,000 jobs with the majority of the losses coming from construction, retail, and manufacturing.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that there are 15.7 million unemployed people in the country, which is up over half a million from the previous month. The number is up 8.2 million from the time the recession officially began in December 2007.

The number of people who are long-term unemployed (those who have been unemployed for at least 27 weeks) has remained pretty steady. There were 5.6 million long term unemployed people in October; meaning that 35.6% of those who are unemployed have been unemployed for at least 27 weeks.

According to the New York Times, the “underemployment” rate (part-time workers and people who have given up the job hunt altogether) is at 17.5%.

Of course this is more bad news, but it is right on track with what analysts were thinking. After all, they did say that unemployment would hit 10% by the end of the year.

There are fields that aren’t doing so badly; the health care profession has added over half a million jobs since the beginning of the recession.

Perhaps with the holiday season, some of the merchants will be hiring at least temporary workers. While temporary work isn’t the most ideal for a lot of workers, it is something that will help pay the bills for those who are cash-strapped right now.