Jobs and the election

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Days ahead of the presidential election President Obama gets an 11th hour boost on news U.S. employers stepped up hiring in October.

Non-farm payrolls increased by 171,000 last month while the previous two months had combined upward revisions of 84,000.

A separate report shows the unemployment rate rose slightly to 7.9 percent as more job hunters stepped out looking for work.

Cary Leahey, Decision Economics:

SOUNDBITE: CARY LEAHEY, CHIEF U.S. ECONOMIST, DECISION ECONOMICS (ENGLISH) SAYING:

"It makes you feel pretty good to say that 60 days ago when you were afraid you might unravel to a double dip you actually increase the pace of job creation by a hundred thousand workers to 170,000, while it's not a great pace it is certainly reassuring that you at least build up some head of steam going into one of the biggest natural disasters particularly on the East Coast, an election and then a fiscal cliff. "

There were job gains almost across the board including manufacturing, business services, leisure and hospitality and retail while government jobs fell by 13,000.

Temporary jobs, often seen as an early indicator for future permanent hires, rebounded from back-to-back losses.

But if history is any indicator the numbers may not be enough to sway the election on Tuesday.

SOUNDBITE: CARY LEAHEY, CHIEF U.S. ECONOMIST, DECISION ECONOMICS (ENGLISH) SAYING:

"Most people that study the economics line behind political outcomes for a living say that the data through about middle of July really tells the tune and anything you learn after that they really can't squeeze into their statistical model so this isn't going to be a game changer. However it's certainly going to put a smile on Mr. Obama's face and a frown on Mr. Romney's face."

For a true economic rebound, many economists say employers need to create at least 250,000 jobs per month to absorb the 12.3 million unemployed.

Jill Bennett, Reuters