Weak Employment Report Expected Friday

'Nobody is expecting rapid economic growth in the near future'

WASHINGTON — Newly-elected members of Congress will get a reminder Friday of the economic challenges they face in January: The jobs report for October is expected to show hiring weak and unemployment still high.

The outlook for 2011 isn't much better.

Economists expect the Labor Department to report that employers added just 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.

As a result, the unemployment rate is expected to remain 9.6 percent for a third straight month.
The jobs report will also likely illustrate why the Federal Reserve felt it needed to announce Wednesday a plan to buy $600 billion in Treasury bonds. Those purchases are intended to lower interest rates on mortgages and other loans and help boost the economy.

Since new members of the House of Representatives and Senate won't take office until January, the burden of trying to energize the economy will fall initially on current members. They will meet in a so-called lame-duck session Nov. 15.

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