Despite Recovery, Employers Aren’t Hiring Unemployment rate rises to 9.8 percent as 263,000 jobs are cut Oct . 2, 2009 WASHINGTON - Job hunters will face long odds well into next year. As the unemployment rate inches closer to 10 percent, most businesses are nowhere close to hiring again. Uncertain about prospects for recovery — the economy's and their own — employers cut 263,000 jobs in September, the government said Friday. Unemployment crept up to 9.8 percent. As the economy slowly turns around, sales are slowly growing and many companies are starting to make money again. But they're doing it...