Fabio Magliano, right, fills out a job application at Marlins Park in Miami, Oct. 24, 2012 as the Florida Marlins host an Internship Job Fair.(Photo: By Alan Diaz, AP)
Employers added 171,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department said
Friday in the last employment report before the presidential election.
The unemployment rate ticked up 7.9%.
Before the report was released, U.S. stock index futures were mixed and almost flat.
MORE: Where the Jobs Are
Other
barometers of the job market have been more encouraging recently. The
government reported Thursday that first-time jobless claims last week
fell 9,000 to 363,000. And a private survey estimated businesses added
158,000 jobs in October.
On other fronts, the economy has also
shown improvement with retail sales, consumer confidence and the housing
market strengthening. Falling gasoline prices are expected to provide a
further boost to consumer spending
But businesses have pulled
back on investment and hiring amid looming tax increases and spending
cuts that could hobble the U.S. economy if Congress doesn't act. And the
European financial crisis continues to curtail U.S. exports.
"The fiscal issue is weighing on (business) confidence," says Mark
Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics. "That's being reflected in
(declining) investment and the lack of a pickup in hiring."
The Commerce Department recently said that economy grew at a 2% annual
pace in the third quarter, up from 1.3% in the second quarter, a modest
expansion that's unlikely to result in robust job growth.
USA Today