"Unemployment down, payrolls up" Despite devastating hurricanes from late August through mid October, according to the Labor Department: America's payrolls grew by a rather tepid 56,000 in October, a sign that the nation's job market is slowly regaining its footing after the beating administered to the Gulf Coast area by Hurricane Katrina. The unemployment rate dipped to 5 percent of the labor force. About those hurricanes and the job market: Importantly, job losses in September turned out to be just 8,000, according to revised figures. That was smaller than the 35,000 decline in jobs that was reported a month ago, suggesting the damage to the job market from Katrina wasn't as terrible as many had feared. Still, the storm was certainly felt: The drop in payrolls in September was the first nationwide employment decline in two years. Just thought you'd like to know. Ethel C. Fenig   11 04 05(Read Full Post)