The nation's unemployment rate rose to 9.8% in September from 9.7% in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics just reported.

Businesses cut 263,000 jobs from their payrolls.

We'll have more about the report shortly.

Planet Money will also be following the news.

Update at 11:15 a.m. ET: NPR's Laura Conaway points out that the length of the average job search, now 26.2 weeks, is the longest it has been since BLS started keeping records in 1948.

Update at 8:35 a.m. ET. The Associated Press writes that:

The uptick in the jobless rate is "evidence that the longest recession since the 1930s is still inflicting widespread pain." The job loss total was "above Wall Street economists' expectations of 180,000 job losses, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters."

Also, AP notes:

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%, the highest on records dating from 1994.

One thing to keep in mind: Economists say that the labor market always "lags" the rest of the economy. Employers remain reluctant to hire until they're absolutely, positively sure that things are getting better.