October jobs report: Hiring weak, unemployment high

The jobs report for October is expected to show hiring weak and unemployment still high, and the outlook for 2011 is still pretty bleak, according to a report from the Associated Press (AP).

Economists expect the U.S.Department of Labor to report that employers added about 60,000 jobs in October, fewer than the 100,000 needed to keep pace with population growth — and far fewer than the 200,000 needed to start returning the 15 million unemployed Americans to work, the AP says in its report.

As a result, the unemployment rate is expected to remain 9.6 percent for a third straight month, according to the AP.