REUTERS/Dominic Ebenbichler
Barbara Szabo of Hungary competes in the women's high jump qualifying round during the IAAF World Athletics Championships at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, August 15, 2013.
First, the scoreboard:
- Dow: 15,472.5, +80.3, +0.5%
- S&P 500: 1,754.9, +10.3, +0.5%
- NASDAQ: 3,929.2, +9.2, +0.2%
And now the top stories:
- After a two-week delay caused by the U.S. government shutdown, we finally got the September jobs report. U.S. companies added just 148,000 nete new payrolls, which was weaker than the 180,000 expected by economists. However, the unemployment rate fell to 7.2% from 7.3% a month ago. The so-called underemployment rate fell to 13.6% from 13.7%. This came as the labor force participation rate remained unchanged at 63.2%.
- Those following the impact of Obamacare followed the part-time jobs stats closely. Under Obamacare, employers with over 50 employees are required to offer health insurance to their full-time staff. Critics have warned that this would force employers to shift from full-time workers to part-time workers. However, the number of part-time jobs actually fell by 594,000 while the number of full-time jobs jumped by 691,000.
- Federal Reserve Chair nominee Janet Yellen is well-known for following long-term unemployment stats, which actually fell modestly.
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