Job woes: November unemployment rate ticks up to 9.8%

President Obama could point to only one piece of good news Friday in the otherwise awful new employment report - the private sector added jobs for the eleventh month in a row.

That fact was buried in the latest Labor Department report, which revealed that the national unemployment rate climbed from 9.6% to 9.8% - a seven month high - and the U.S. economy added just 39,000 jobs last month.

"No question the report is disappointing," Vice President Joe Biden said, while his boss was visiting the troops in Afghanistan.

The bleak jobs growth picture was revealed just days after the Republicans in Congress blocked an attempt to extend unemployment benefits for some 2 million Americans, including 95,000 New Yorkers whose bennies run out New Year's Eve.

Biden said the dire jobs report is yet another reason to extend the benefits.

"Not only is it the right thing to do," it makes economic sense, and especially right before the holidays, when that money gets pumped back into the economy, Biden said.

Unemployment insurance, he said, is a "powerful driver of economic growth."

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand echoed Biden's remarks.

"The new job numbers show that we need to extend emergency unemployment assistance for people that are out there desperately trying to find a job," Gillibrand said. "The economy is simply not producing enough jobs to support these families right now."

Experts had been forecasting that as many as 175,000 new jobs would be added to the economy in November. Instead, there was a steep drop from the 172,000 jobs created in October.

A closer look at the figures revealed two chief reasons why the unemployment rate climbed - govement shed 11,000 jobs and private companies still uncertain about the future put hoarding profits ahead of hiring people.

"The truth is that the economy is going nowhere at a time when companies are not willing to boost hiring," said Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics.

Factories, financial firms and construction companies all failed to meet job growth expectations.

Also, the retail sector cut 28,000 jobs in November - even as holiday shoppers were hitting the stores and racking up big sales over the Inteet.

The U.S. jobless rate has now topped 9% for 19 months straight - the longest period on record.

In all, there were 15.1 million people unemployed in November.

Analysts said the U.S. economy would need to add 200,000 to 300,000 jobs a month consistently to bring down the unemployment rate.