The unemployment rate jumped to 10.2% in October as employers cut 190-thousand jobs during the month.

The Labor Department says unemployment is now at its highest rate since April of 1983 as the total number of unemployed persons increased by more than half a million in October to 15.7 million.

Payrolls have declined for 22 consecutive months, meaning more than seven million people have lost their jobs since the recession began in December 2007.