WASHINGTON — Unemployment worsened or stayed the same in many metro areas in October, the Labor Department said Wednesday, as jobs remained scarce nationwide.

The report came a day before the Obama administration holds a “jobs summit” at the White House that will gather economists, academics and corporate executives to consider how the government can spur job creation.

The jobless rate rose in 162 of the 372 metro areas tracked by the Labor Department. The rate was unchanged in 42 areas. It dropped in 168 areas.

In September, unemployment had dropped in 223 areas and risen in only 123. The deteriorating trend mirrors the U. S. unemployment rate, which jumped to 10.2 percent in October from 9.8 percent in September.

All 372 areas reported higher unemployment rates in October compared with the previous year.

The Buffalo Niagara region had 8.3 percent unemployment in October, down slightly from 8.4 percent in September. Despite the apparent improvement, the region lost 16,900 jobs since October 2008. The region is suffering its highest unemployment since the mid- 1980s.

The Labor Department is scheduled to release the national unemployment report for November on Friday. There were 190,000 job cuts in October.

Fifteen areas recorded jobless rates of 15 percent or more in October, the department said, with nine of those in California and three in Michigan. That’s up from 13 areas with rates above 15 percent the previous month.

Fresno, Calif., for example, saw its jobless rate soar to 15.8 percent from 14 percent in September. And the rate in Hanford- Corcoran, Calif., jumped to 15.5 percent from 13.9 percent.

The areas with the biggest increases were: Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa, which soared to 8 percent from 5.6 percent; Ocean City, N. J., to 10.6 percent from 8.5 percent; and Sandusky, Ohio, to 10.9 percent from 9.5 percent.

El Centro, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz., posted the nation’s highest jobless rates of 30 and 23.5 percent, respectively. The two adjacent counties are heavily agricultural and have many seasonal farm workers.

Bismarck, N. D., recorded the nation’s lowest rate, at 2.8 percent, followed by Fargo and Grand Forks, N. D., both at 3.5 percent.