Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Unemployment rose in 29 U.S. states in October, including record levels of joblessness in California, Delaware and Florida, government figures released today showed.

Michigan had the highest unemployment rate at 15.1 percent, followed by Nevada at 13 percent and Rhode Island at 12.9 percent, the Labor Department said in Washington.

The national unemployment rate last month reached a 26-year high of 10.2 percent, limiting consumer spending and the breadth of the economic recovery. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Nov. 17 that joblessness “likely will decline only slowly.”

“We’re still going to see the unemployment rate in many metro areas and many states rise for quite some time, going into next year,” Marisa Di Natale, a director at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said before the report. “Employers won’t start hiring again until they’re confident the economy has really started to turn around and they’re convinced there’s work for them to do.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Courtney Schlisserman in Washington at cschlisserma@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 20, 2009 10:05 EST