All but 2 sectors post job losses

The only major sectors that added jobs were health care and education, and business and professional services.

Health care added 29,000 jobs in October. Since the start of the recession, it has added 597,000 jobs. Education added 16,000 jobs last month.

Employment in the service sector, the biggest for jobs in the U.S., fell 61,000 in October after a loss of 105,000 jobs in September.

Retail payrolls fell by 40,000, and leisure and hospitality employment fell by 37,000. Payrolls at builders declined 62,000 after a loss of 68,000 in September, while the manufacturing sector shed 61,000 jobs. Employment in government was unchanged last month from September.

Of 271 industries, 33.8% were hiring in October, down from 37.5% in September.

The overall unemployment rate hit 10.2% in October, but the unemployment rate for adult men was 10.7%. The jobless rate for adult women was 8.1%, while teenagers were slammed in October -- their unemployment rate was 27.6%.

The number of long-term unemployed -- people who have been without a job for 27 weeks or more -- was little changed at 5.6 million, but that represented 35.6% of all unemployed people.

The underemployment rate, which includes part-time workers who would rather be working full time and those who have given up looking for a job, hit a record 17.5% from 17% in September. Temporary workers rose by 34,000, the first gain since December 2007.  

Total hours worked in the economy fell 0.2%. The average workweek was steady at a record-low 33 hours. Average hourly earnings rose 5 cents, or 0.3%, to $18.72. Average hourly earnings are up 2.4% from October of last year.

Job losses peaked at 741,000 in January 2008.