This morning, the much anticipated "Jobs Report" for October... the last Jobs Report before the election next Tuesday... was released as scheduled, revealing that 171,000 jobs were created last month, a strong jump from the "114,000 jobs" reported last September. The September number was also revised upwards to "148,000". The Unemployment Rate also rose to 7.9% as many long-term unemployed, encouraged by recent job growth, reentered the labor market once again searching for work.

Businesses picked up their pace of hiring in October and the unemployment rose as more people started looking for work, according to new government data that offer a glimmer of optimism for the long-ailing job market on the eve of the presidential election.

Employers reported adding 171,000 jobs in October, beating both analysts’ expectations (125,000 jobs added) and September’s rate of job creation (a revised 148,000).

The unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent, up from 7.8 percent, but the details of why point to improvement in the job market as well. Some 578,000 more Americans counted themselves as part of the labor force, and only 410,000 more people reported having a job. In one welcome sign, the proportion of the population reporting that they had a job ticked up a tenth of a percent to 58.8