Unemployment Rises To 9.8%; Number of Unemployed Reaches 15 Million

In economic news, the nation’s official unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent last month. The Labor Department said 263,000 jobs were eliminated in September bringing the total number of workers unemployed to 15 million. Another nine million people have been relegated to part-time work because their employers had scaled back their hours or they simply could not find full-time jobs. The unemployment rate has doubled since December 2007.