US unemployment rate hits a 14-year high at 6.5 per cent
08 Nov 2008
US unemployment rate touched a 14-year high of 6.5 per cent in October, up 0.4 per cent from September, showing signs that the economic crisis is deepening.
The number of unemployed people increased by 6,03,000 to 10.1 million in October, according to the US Labor Department,
The last time, America witnessed an unemployment rate of 6.5 per cent was in March 1994.
For the first 10 months of this year, the employment has declined by 1.2 million and majority of the happened in the last three months.
"October's drop in payroll employment followed declines of 1,27,000 in August and 2,84,000 in September, as revised. Employment has fallen by 1.2 million in the first 10 months of 2008; over half of the decrease has occurred in the past 3 months.
In October, job losses continued in manufacturing, construction and several service-providing industries. Health care and mining continued to add jobs," the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is part of the Labor Department said in a statement.
