Obama signs jobless assistance bill; unemployment at 26-year high Play Video

By Associated Press and staff reports

Posted: Nov 6, 2009 3:25 PM
Updated: Nov 7, 2009 12:04 AM

  The nation's unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent in October -- a 26-year high -- as employers continued to cut jobs.

   The economy grew in the third quarter, but with 15.7 million Americans unable to find work the recovery remains fragile.
 
  The unemployment rate is forecast to keep rising, perhaps above 10.5 percent, because employers remain reluctant to hire. Some economists say a return to pre-recession employment levels could take five years.

  Louisiana's unemployment rate in September improved -- from 7.8 percent the month before to 7.4 percent, the Labor Department said.

  Arkansas' rate remained stable at 7.1 percent. In Texas, the jobless rate rose slightly from 8 percent in August to 8.2 percent in September.

  Texas workforce officials say job seekers are hampered by fewer jobs, but job seekers say they won't give up trying to find employment.

  Nearly 16 million people across the country can't find jobs. Many economists worry that persistently high unemployment could undermine the recovery by restraining consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the economy.

   The Labor Department says the jobless rate rose to 10.2 percent, the highest since April 1983, from 9.8 percent 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.
 
  President Barack Obama has signed a bill providing tax incentives to prospective homebuyers and extending unemployment benefits to the longtime jobless.
  
  The law also includes tax cuts for struggling businesses. The White House says it builds on provisions in the $787 billion stimulus package enacted last February that aim at spurring job creation.

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