In news that President Barack Obama described as “sobering,” the U.S. unemployment rate in October broke into the double-digit range, with 10.2 percent of Americans without jobs, the highest rate since April 1983.

The BBC:

The unemployment rate in the US rose to 10.2% in October, which was its highest rate since April 1983, according to figures from the US Labor Department.

It rose from September’s figure of 9.8%. The economy lost 190,000 jobs in the month.

Since the recession began in December 2007, the number of unemployed has risen by 8.2 million, while the jobless rate has risen from 4.9%.

President Barack Obama described the rise in unemployment as “sobering”.

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