True National Jobless Rate Hits 17 percent

Unemployment nationwide rose officially to 9.8 percent in September, but the true jobless rate, including those who have had their hours cut or have stopped looking for work, soared to 17 percent. Overall, employers slashed 263,000 jobs last month — higher than the 201,000 job cuts in August, and much higher than the 175,000 that economists predicted, according to the Chron.