Friday, November 6, 2009

The unemployment rate has surpassed 10% 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% of the economy.

The Labor Department says the jobless rate rose to 10.2%, the highest since April 1983, from 9.8% 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% next year because employers remain reluctant to hire.