Unemployment Rate Hits 9.8%

WASHINGTON (TheStreet) -- After a week of downbeat news about the nation's employment picture, today's report offers little to contradict those gloomy sentiments.

The nation shed 263,000 jobs in September, bringing the unemployment rate up to 9.8%, according to a Labor Department report released on Thursday.

In August, it was reported that nonfarm payrolls were cut by 216,000, while the unemployment rate landed at 9.7%.

Economists expected nonfarm payrolls to fall by 180,000 last month, with the unemployment rate to grow by a tenth of a point to 9.8%.

This newest data comes on the heels of earlier valuations of the labor market. On Thursday, the Labor Department said that the number of new filers for unemployment insurance jumped last week to 551,000. On Wednesday, a private sector jobs assessment showed that employers slashed 254,000 jobs from their payrolls in September.

In September, Windstream, Dell, Monsanto(MON Quote) and Deere & Co., among others, announced layoff plans.

-- Written by Sung Moss in New York

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