US jobless rate soars to 26-year high

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Washington: The unemployment rate in the US skyrocketed to a 26-year-high of 10.2 per cent in October, as ompanies continued to trim their workforce to cut costs.

A whopping 190,000 jobs evaporated in the world's largest economy, last month, mainly in the field of construction, manufacturing and retail sectors.

The official data showed that unemployment rate shot up to 10.2 per cent in October from 9.8 per cent in September, indicating that labor market continues to remain strained.

"In October, the number of unemployed persons increased by 558,000 to 15.7 million. The unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage point to 10.2 per cent, the highest rate since April 1983," the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a statement.

Grappling with the worst financial turmoil in nearly 80 years, a staggering 8.2 million people have turned jobless since the economy officially slipped into recession in December 2007.

"Job losses have averaged 188,000 over the past three months. The declines are much smaller and less widespread than they were last fall and winter.

"... some industries are still experiencing notable employment declines. In October, construction lost 62,000 jobs, manufacturing 61,000, and retail trade 40,000," Bureau of Labor Statistics' Commissioner Keith Hall said.

In October, the jobless rate for adult men touched 10.7 per cent.

Moreover, last month, 5.6 million people had been jobless for 27 weeks or more.

Despite the improvement in economic situation, the employment situation continues to be gloomy. Many companies are continuing to layoff people as part of their restructuring efforts and such activities seem to be rising in recent weeks.

The national GDP expanded for the first time in a year, with a third-quarter growth of 3.5 per cent.

On the other hand, health care sector witnessed rising employment last month and added 29,000 jobs.

"Employment in temporary help services rose by 34,000 over the month, the first significant increase in that industry since the start of the recession in December 2007," Hall noted.