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It's not clear if hiring trends changed last month. The government was unable to issue the September employment report because of the shutdown. However, last week payroll provider ADP said businesses added just 166,000 jobs in September, evidence that hiring remains sluggish. The ADP figures usually diverge from the government's more comprehensive employment report. Analysts forecast that the economy was growing slowly before the shutdown. They predict economic growth at a 1.5 percent to 2 percent annual rate from July through September. That's generally not fast enough to spur much hiring. Many economists had forecast that growth would pick up to an annual rate of 2.5 percent to 3 percent from October through December. But the shutdown will likely shave about 0.15 percentage point from that figure for each week it lasts.
[Associated
Press;
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