Following the national trend, unemployment rates in Indiana and Illinois rose in October, according to data the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday.

In preliminary, seasonally adjusted data, Indiana's jobless rate in October was 9.8 percent, up 0.1 percent from the revised figure a month earlier. One year earlier, Indiana's jobless rate was 6.4 percent.

Illinois' unemployment rate stood at 11 percent in October, up a 0.5 percent from September. The rate is at a 25-year-high, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

Indiana Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Teresa Voors said the state's unemployment rate been steady in the last three months despite the national rate heading up.

"However, a projected soft holiday retail season combined with a slump in manufacturing and hospitality employment tempers my optimism concerning the coming months," Voors said.

Illinois and Indiana have shed an estimated 438,900 jobs between October 2008 and October 2009.

The nation's unemployment rate was 10.2 percent in October. However, the country's labor underutilization rate is about 17.5 percent, which includes people working part time instead of full time and people who have not actively searched for a job in four weeks but still want to work.

Jobless rates in Schererville (7 percent), Valparaiso (7.5 percent), Hammond (10.8 percent), Gary (11.7 percent) went up in October compared to a month earlier, according to non-seasonally adjusted data the Department of Workforce Development released. Unemployment rates in Merrillville (9.3 percent), Portage (9.3 percent), Hobart (11 percent), East Chicago (12 percent) fell last month.

October 2009 unemployment rates*

Porter County: 8.2 percent

Lake County: 9.6 percent

La Porte County: 10.9 percent

*Figures are preliminary and the effects of regular or seasonal employment shifts haven't been removed

Source: Indiana Department of Workforce Development