Unemployment Tops 10% Amid Slow Rebound

(WASHINGTON) — The unemployment rate has surpassed 10 percent 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. The Labor Department says the economy shed a net total of 190,000 jobs in October, less than the downwardly revised 219,000 lost in September. (See 25 people to blame for the financial crisis.)

But the loss of jobs exceeded economists' estimates. It's the 22nd straight month the U.S. economy has shed jobs, the longest on records dating back 70 years.

Counting those who have settled for part-time jobs or stopped looking for work, the unemployment rate would be 17.5 percent, the highest on records dating from 1994. The jobless rate rose from 9.8 percent in September.

Employers aren't expected to start adding jobs for several more months. Many are skeptical about the strength and sustainability of the recovery.

The nation's economy probably lost a net total of 175,000 jobs in October, pushing the unemployment rate to 9.9%, according to a survey of Wall Street economists by Thomson Reuters. (See pictures of the stock market crash of 1929.)

The economy grew at a 3.5% annual rate in the July-September quarter, the government said last week, the strongest signal yet that the recession has ended. But that alone won't spur rapid hiring, raising the likelihood of a "jobless recovery."

"You need explosive growth to take the unemployment rate down," said Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist for New York-based investment firm Miller Tabak & Co.

Greenhaus said the economy soared by nearly 8% in 1983 after a steep recession, lowering the jobless rate by 2.5 percentage points that year. But the economy is unlikely to improve that fast this time, as consumers remain cautious and tight credit hinders businesses. In fact, many analysts expect economic growth to moderate early next year, as the impact of various government stimulus programs fades.

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