Washington - The US unemployment rate surged to 10.2 per cent in October, the highest in 26 years, as another 190,000 people lost their jobs during the month, the US reported Friday. The figure reported by US Labour Department came after the 9.8 per cent jobless rate in September. The worst-hit sectors were construction, manufacturing and the retail trade, the department said.
Unemployment has now climbed above 10 per cent for the first time since 1983. The rise was worse than expected - economists predicted 175,000 jobs lost and a 9.9-per-cent rate in October.
The jobless rate had been expected to continue rising even as the US economy appears to have pulled out of its deep recession. The economy grew by an annual rate of 3.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2009.
The bad news suggested a stock sell-off was likely when trading opens later Friday morning on Wall Street.
