October payrolls report

While I am very confident that hiring will pick up on a trend basis, I am also fairly sure that the improvement will be gradual. We will eventually get to full-out robust gains (250,000 to 300,000 per month) but it will take time.” — Stephen Stanley, chief economist of Pierpont Securities.

• “Persistently high unemployment represents a significant hurdle for consumer confidence and therefore consumer purchases of autos and housing.” — John Silvia, chief economist of Wells Fargo Securities.

• “October’s U.S. payrolls report is stronger than expected and, at the margin, reduces the risk we will actually see the unemployment rate edge higher over the coming months. Nevertheless, there is still little prospect of any meaningful decline in that unemployment rate.” — Paul Ashworth, senior U.S. economist, Capital Economics.

• “The producer and employment figures out of the U.S. in the past week have signaled a pick-up in growth momentum into the year end, which may prompt the market to reconsider the chances of an extended Fed QE cycle, resulting in a steeper U.S. yield curve and a stronger dollar.” — Lena Komileva, head of G7 market economics at Tullett Prebon.

• “We’ve now seen four months of private-sector job growth above 100,000 [jobs], which is the first time we’ve seen this kind of increase in over four years. Now, that’s not good enough. The unemployment rate is still unacceptably high and we’ve got a lot of work to do.” — President Barack Obama.

• “Any job growth is a positive sign, but stagnant and stubbornly high unemployment makes clear why permanently stopping all the looming tax hikes should top Washington’s to-do list this month.” — House Republican Leader John Boehner.

• “With October marking the tenth straight month of private sector job growth, today’s news confirms that Democratic actions have helped bring our economy back from the brink and create jobs for the American people. However, we must do much more for those struggling in these difficult times and to strengthen America’s middle class.” — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

(source:marketwatch.com)