A study by Gallup, the polling organization, shows that unemployment actually registered 10.1 percent in September, well above the government’s estimate of 9.6 percent.

And ominously, much of the increase came during the second half of the month, as the rate registered 9.4 percent in mid-September.

“It could be that the anticipated slowdown of the overall economy has potential employers even more cautious about hiring,” Gallup says in a statement.

“Some of the increase could also be seasonal or temporary.”

The underemployment rate, which includes people who aren’t working as many hours as they’d like and those who have giving up on looking for work, totaled 18.8 percent in September, up from 18.6 percent in August.

To be sure, things are improving on that front, as underemployment peaked at 20.4 percent in April.

Younger workers and those without a college education continue to fare worse than others. Among those age 18 to 29, the unemployment rate totaled 15.8 percent and for those with no college education, it was 13.9 percent.

Experts remain pessimistic about employment after the government reported that non-farm payrolls dropped by 95,000 in September, though private sector payrolls rose by 64,000.

“The private-sector growth is somewhat heartening, but in total you have to expect that state and local and government jobs are going to be a drag for a number of months and perhaps a number of quarters,” Bill Gross, star co-chief investment officer at Pimco, told Bloomberg.

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