Jobs Picture Still Bleak, Despite Gains

A private sector increase of 159,000 jobs, offset slightly by a loss of 8,000 government jobs, resulted in a net gain of 151,000 jobs in October.  Not bad, certainly, but not great either, considering that, as the Associated Press put it, “It takes up to 150,000 net new jobs a month just to keep up with population growth,” and the overall unemployment rate held steady at a dismal 9.6 percent.