U.S. unemployment

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. unemployment rate in October jumped to 10.2 percent, the highest since April 1983.

The U.S. Department of Labor Friday said the number of unemployed in the United States increased by 558,000 last month and now totals 15.7 million.

The monthly unemployment report said since December 2007, the number of unemployed has increased by 8.2 million and the unemployment rate has nearly doubled. The rate was 5.3 percent 23 months ago.

Economists estimated the rate would hit 9.9 percent, making Friday's report from the U.S. Labor Department much more dire than anticipated. And, factoring in people who have stopped looking for work or have accepted part-time positions, the unemployment rate is actually in the 18 percent range, University of Maryland economist Peter Morici said.

The Labor Department said the U.S. economy lost 190,000 jobs last month, also higher than had been expected.

The U.S. gross domestic product showed annualized growth of 3.5 percent in the third quarter, suggesting the recent recession was over, but those figures were helped by the "cash for clunkers" program and a tax credit for home buyers. That tax credit has been extended by Congress.

Also, employment is a notorious lagging indicator and unemployment rates take some time to catch up with growth in the rest of the economy. And, officials have warned, this appears to be a relatively jobless recovery.