BULLETIN:  WELCOME TO THE RECOVERY - AT 8:52 A.M. ET: 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September as employers cut far more jobs than expected, evidence that the longest recession since the 1930s is still inflicting widespread pain.

The Labor Department said Friday that the economy lost a net total of 263,000 jobs last month, up from a downwardly revised 201,000 in August. That's above Wall Street economists' expectations of 180,000 job losses, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

The unemployment rate rose from 9.7 percent in August, matching expectations.

If laid-off workers who have settled for part-time work or have given up looking for new jobs are included, the unemployment rate rose to 17 percent, the highest in records dating from 1994.

More than a half-million unemployed people gave up looking for work last month. Had they continued searching, the official jobless rate would have been higher.

COMMENT:  This is grim.  You can't have a jobless recovery and call it a recovery. 

Remember that, from 1933 to 1937, in the depths of the Great Depression, we had a stock market rally.  It meant nothing.  Joblessness drags down consumption and spending, which are the elements that drive the real economy.

We are still in trouble.  The stimulus apparently isn't very stimulating.

October 2, 2009