Jobless report a bit better than it seems

The headlines show only a modest gain of 80,000 jobs in October (104,000 private sector jobs added, 24,000 government jobs lost). That's weaker than the already-weak expectations of about 100,000 jobs. But there were a few positive signs:

--August was revised upward from +57,000 to +104,000, and September was revised from +103,000 to +158,000.

--The separate household survey showed an increase of 277,000 jobs in October, which is why the unemployment rate fell to 9 percent from 9.1 percent.

--More folks entered the workforce in October, which presumably means there's a bit more optimism about job prospects.

--U-6, the broader measure of unemployment that includes part time workers and those stuck in jobs they don't want, fell to 16.2 percent - still very high.

--The number of long-term unemployed fell to 5.9 million in October, from 6.2 million the prior month - still very high.

The bottom line remains quite weak. Consistent job gains of 200,000 to 300,000 a month would be required to see real improvement in the labor market, and that's nowhere in sight. But the economy is growing, albeit slowly, and the chances of a double-dip recession are relatively low - barring some shock to the system in Europe. Here's the BLS release.