Good Friday afternoon one and all (or good Saturday morning, or maybe even good Monday morning). Whenever it is you read the SmallCap Network newsletter though, you're likely reading this edition at a time when you have to make a decision about what's sure to be a pivotal Presidential election. The latest matter to weigh? October's jobs report, which was posted on Friday morning. Since we know you're not getting the complete picture anywhere else and would like to get a complete, accurate look at what's really going on in terms of jobs, we're going to devote a lot of our time and space today examining all the important employment data. Maybe this will be the last dose of economic information you need to make the best decision you can come Tuesday. Let's just start by fleshing out the rest of the story for what you already know. Last month, the nation added 161,000 nonfarm jobs, which was enough to move the unemployment rate from 5.0% back to 4.9%. Also note that September's job growth pace was revised from 156,000 to 191,000. The unemployment rate is good - there's no denying that. And, any time you don't lose jobs, that's good too. The question is, how good is 161,000 compared to where we've been and where we'd like to be? The longer-term chart of both tells more of that story. The beef with the strong (as in low) unemployment rate figure is that it's based on numbers that may or may not reflect the true picture of employment right now. To really get a feel for that aspect of the jobs picture, we have to look at the raw employment and unemployment figures, and how many people are not being counted as part of the labor force but actually do want a job. This is where things get interesting. The chart below tells that tale. The total number of people with jobs actually fell a bit last month, from 151.968 million to 151.925 million. [Nope, total employment and payroll growth aren't based on the same data.] The number of people who are officially unemployed also fell, however, from 7.939 million to 7.787 million. That's at least part of the reason the unemployment rate was able to move lower even though the number of people with jobs also fell. Finally, the number of people who are not officially counted as part of the labor force but DO want a job fell from 6.088 million to 5.912 million. So far, things are still on the fence. There's a another factor we've yet to look at though. That is, the labor force participation rate and the employed/population ratio. The former fell from 62.9% to 62.8%, which is a step in the wrong direction at a point when we couldn't afford any step in the wrong direction; this also helps push the unemployment rate downward. The employment/population ratio also fell, from 59.8% to 59.7%. This would help force the unemployment rate higher, even if only indirectly. Regardless, you can see both ratios are well below the more typical levels seen in 2007. It's up to you to decide how much of that falling participation you want to chalk up to the mass retirement of baby boomers. Finally, the number of people with multiple jobs (presumably two part-time jobs or a part-time AND a full-time job) now stands at 7.77 million, which is at the very high end of the historical norm. Along those same lines, 5.1% of employed people are holding more than one job, which is also on the high-ish end of the recent scale, though still fairly low by long-term standards. You can interpret the data however you want. Those of you who've been reading the newsletter for a while know quite well we don't impose our political opinions on our readers, and we don't twist or spin the truth -- good or bad -- for political purposes. We will make it clear, however, that this is truly one of the slowest economic growth periods we've ever seen since they started keeping economic records. It beats moving in the other direction though. Whatever you decide, GET OUT AND VOTE! It looks like both candidates are going to need every vote, 'cause this one's going to be close. If you don't know where you're supposed to vote, this page will get you started. We also want to congratulate those of you who are members of the Under the Radar Movers newsletter. You all locked in a 32% gain on your Allied Health Products (AHPI) short position today... a trade you held less than two weeks. If you're not a subscribers of the URM service, you're missing out. There's not much else that can be said. As far as the market goes, things got real interesting today. As we suspected would be the case and described in Thursday's edition, the weak open and subsequent brush with the 200-day moving average line prompted a firm rally from the S&P 500. It just didn't last. By the time the closing bell rang, the S&P 500 had logged a seventh straight day of losses, ending the day and the week right at that key 200-day moving average line. This really screws things up headed into Monday, as if the Presidential election hadn't done enough to skew the picture. Had the market finished with a solid gain today and followed through on Monday, it would have set up the perfect rollover scenario from Tuesday on, giving us a much bigger and much-needed correction. Now, traders are being forced to wonder if after seven straight days of losses the market is already in an uncontrolled freefall. Either way, as rough as things look and feel now, they can get worse. See the VIX on bottom portion of the weekly chart? It's not yet at levels we tend to see at major bottoms. This really puts the onus on investors to decide where they stand on things here. As much as we'd like to step into a trend (up or down) that's already in motion, this is an environment where you can't do that. This environment is one that requires you to hold your nose and dive in even when it feels like you're jumping in against the grain. You should be jumping in against the grain, 'cause volatility has become the new norm. That, or you truly hunker down for the long haul and just ignore all the noise. Trying to do anything else right now could be very frustrating. More Monday. Have a great weekend.