MANHATTAN — More than 190,000 jobs were lost nationwide in October, pushing the unemployment rate to 10.2 percent, the highest it's been since 1983.
The pace of job losses has slowed in recent months — in September, 219,000 Americans were put out of work. Economists have predicted, amid a slow recovery from the recession, that businesses won't start hiring again until early next year.
“There’s no doubt that the slashing and burning of jobs has abated quite a lot,” Allen L. Sinai, the founder of Decision Economics, a research firm, told the New York Times. “The economy is recovering, but it is a very soft recovery.”
In anticipation of the unemployment numbers, U.S. Congress extended jobless benefits for 20 weeks.
Meanwhile, reports showed the economy expanded 3.5 percent in the third quarter. But that hasn't translated into jobs, yet.
“You can’t force businesses to use their profits to hire,” Sinai told the Times.
The New York State Dept. of Labor said it was awaiting President Barack Obama's approval of the benefit extension to figure out how many unemployed New Yorkers would be able to take advantage of it.
"We are still obtaining clarification about the eligibility and extension dates as it relates to the Tiers that were added to the bill," the department said on Twitter.
The state Labor department said it would tweet updates as more information became available.
