US jobless rate hits 26-1/2-year high at 10.2 pct

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. jobless rate  unexpectedly jumped to 10.2 percent last month, a 26-1/2-year  high, adding to pressure on the Obama administration to do more  to tackle unemployment even as signs of recovery mount.

The Labor Department said yesterday that employers cut  190,000 jobs in October, more than the 175,000 markets had  expected but fewer than the 219,000 jobs lost in September.

Job losses for August and September were revised to show  91,000 fewer jobs were lost than previously reported, taking  some of the sting out of the report.

While the revisions hinted at some improvement, economists  had expected the jobless rate to rise to 9.9 percent from  September’s 9.8 percent. A wider gauge of labor-market slack  that includes unemployed Americans who have given up looking  for work hit a record 17.5 percent.

Speaking at the White House, President Barack Obama said  the administration was considering infrastructure investments  and business tax cuts to aid the economy’s recovery.

“I can promise you that I won’t let up until the Americans  who want to find work can find work and all Americans can earn  enough to raise their families and keep their businesses open,”  he said.

Stocks on Wall Street ended higher after initially falling  as investors looked past the jump in the jobless rate and  focused instead on the moderation in payroll losses.

U.S. Treasury debt prices rose as traders saw the data as  supporting a prolonged period of low interest rates.

“Unfortunately, the problem is becoming deeper and more  protracted,” Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of bond giant  Pacific Investment Management Co (PIMCO) told Reuters.

“It’s not just the increase in the headline number,” he  said. “It’s also about the longer-term nature of unemployment,  the increase in underemployment and the prospect for only a  very gradual recovery,” he said.