Unemployment surpasses 10%

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The nation’s unemployment rate surged to 10.2% in October, reaching double digits for the first time in 26 years, the Labor Department reported today.

The unexpectedly sharp increase, from 9.8% in September, came as employers dropped 190,000 workers from their payrolls last month. That was larger than the 175,000 job losses that most forecasters were expecting for the month, and it underscored just how dire the labor market remains despite the recent upturn in the nation’s economic output.

Read the full report from Don Lee of the Washington bureau here.