Nationwide unemployment rate hits 9.8 percent

Bad news this Friday morning: nationwide, the jobless rate rose to 9.8 percent, the highest level since June 1983.

The Labor Department released the number of total job lost in September: 263,000. NPR reports that if workers who have settled for part-time work or have stopped looking for a position are included, then the rate skyrockets to 17 percent.

The total number of job lost since December 2007 is a whopping 7.1 million.
 

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