Unemployment Jumps to 10.2%

Unemployment cracked the 10% barrier last month, as 190,000 workers lost their jobs, according to Labor Department figures released today. The bigger-than-expected losses bring the rate to 10.2%, a 26-year high. And the underemployment rate, which includes would-be full-timers working part time and those who've given up looking for work, hit a record high of 17.5%. “It is no surprise that consumer confidence is backpedaling, and the outlook for consumer spending is poor,” one economist tells Bloomberg. (More unemployment stories.)