WASHINGTON - US UNEMPLOYMENT jumped to double digits in October for the first time since 1983, reaching 10.2 per cent, prompting renewed talk of additional stimulus for an economy struggling to emerge from recession.

Friday's Labor Department report, seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum, showed job losses narrowed last month to 190,000.

The improvement was not enough however to prevent the jobless rate from surging to the first double-digit level for more than 26 years, from 9.8 per cent in September.

President Barack Obama called the numbers 'sobering' and said his administration was considering 'further steps' to spark job growth.

'To that end, my economic team is looking at ideas such as additional investments in our aging roads and bridges, incentives to create jobs and steps to increase the flow of credit to small businesses,' he said.

Christina Romer, who heads Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, said the report 'contained both signs of hope for recovery and painful evidence of continued labour market weakness.' The jobless rate rise occurred even with a downward revision to the number of job cuts in the prior two months. -- AFP