Unemployment reaches 26-year high

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The jobless rate jumped from 9.8 percent in September to 10.2 percent in October, a 26-year high. And economists say that rate could still rise.

"You could see unemployment go up to 10.5, 10.8 percent," Rose-Hulman economics professor Dale Bremmer said.

And this rate doesn't include folks who have settled on part-time work or folks who have just given up searching. Before the recession, Bremer said unemployment averaged around 4.9 percent, a rate he said we may not see again until 2013.

"We had a big hit in construction employment, manufacturing employment and retail, and all three of those are Terre Haute," Bremmer said.

Bremer said economic growth will come slowly as this high unemployment rate hurts consumer confidence in spending.

"If consumers become very concerned about their employment, you should see them spend less," Bremer said.

A bill is headed to President Obama's desk that would extend unemployment benefits for another 14 weeks.

News 10 will bring you the details if and when that bill is signed by the President.