The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 10.2 per cent in October from 9.8 per cent, as non-farm payroll employment declined by 190,000.

Jobs brochures are seen on display at a state unemployment office in Sunnyvale, California. The U.S. unemployment rate his 10.2 per cent in October. (Paul Sakuma/Associated Press)

The number of unemployed persons increased by 558,000, to 15.7 million, during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics said Friday.

Since December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 8.2 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 5.3 percentage points. It's also the 22nd consecutive month that the U.S. economy has lost jobs.

U.S. unemployment is now at its highest level since the rate hit 10.2 per cent in April 1983. The all-time high since the government began keeping records was six months earlier in November 1982.

"History tells us that job growth always lags behind economic growth, which is why we have to continue to pursue measures that will create new jobs," U.S. President Barack Obama said in reaction to the latest jobs numbers.

On Friday, Obama signed a bill to extend unemployment benefits, for up to 20 additional weeks, with the longest extensions for hardest-hit states. Under current laws, most states provide for 26 weeks of benefits.

Jobless recovery

The data adds credence that the United States is in the midst of a "jobless recovery" where certain economic indicators begin on a positive trend, but individuals don't feel any of the positive economic activity.

Last week, official data revealed that the U.S. economy expanded at a 3.5 per cent annualized rate last quarter, built on the back of government spending.

"[But] you need explosive growth to take the unemployment rate down," said Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist for New York-based investment firm Miller Tabak&Co.

The last time employment fell so precipitously in the early 1980s, he notes, it took an economy expanding by nearly 8 per cent in 1983 to lower the jobless rate by 2.5 percentage points that year.

The job losses were widespread in October, with construction, manufacturing and retail all posting losses.

Health-care employment was a bright spot, increasing by 29,000 jobs in October. Since the start of the recession, health care has added 597,000 jobs.

The number of those jobless for 27 weeks or more was little changed over the month at 5.6 million. Known as the "long-term unemployed" the figure represents 35.6 per cent of the total number of unemployed persons.