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Nonfarm payroll employment edged down (-95,000) in September, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Government employment declined (-159,000), reflecting both a drop in the number of temporary jobs for Census 2010 and job losses in local government. Private-sector payroll employment continued to trend up modestly (+64,000).

The Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence™, which was unchanged in the second quarter of 2010, declined in the third quarter. The Measure now reads 50, down from 62 last quarter (a reading of more than 50 points reflects more positive than negative responses).

CBIZ Payroll Services – a business unit within professional and financial services firm CBIZ, Inc. - announced the CBIZ Small Business Employment Index for September decreased by 1.02 percent, following a 1.01 decline for the month of August. This was the third consecutive month that a decline in employee payrolls occurred within the small businesses surveyed – an indication that small businesses still remain tepid and guarded about the economy’s recovery.

There were 3.2 million job openings on the last business day of August 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The job openings rate was unchanged over the month at 2.4 percent. The hires rate (3.2 percent) and the separations rate (3.2 percent) were little changed. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector by industry and geographic region.

Mortgage rates fell to record lows again this week, with the average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate now 4.45 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.32 discount and origination points.

Twenty-one percent of employers expect to add full-time, permanent employees in the fourth quarter, according to the latest survey from CareerBuilder and USA TODAY. The October to December period is the fourth consecutive quarter where at least one-in-five employers planned to increase headcount. The survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive© from August 17 to September 2, 2010, included more than 2,400 hiring managers and human resource professionals and more than 3,100 workers across industries and company sizes.

The U.S. Monster Employment Index recorded its eighth consecutive month of positive year-over-year growth during September with a growth rate of 16 percent. This is an accelerated rate from the 12 percent in the previous month, but less than the peak of 21 percent seen during June and July. The Index rose two points (1 percent) in September as online job demand partially rebounded from the August levels.

Despite the Fed's recent proclamation that the "recession has ended," a new survey reveals employees and job seekers may not believe this claim due to continued layoffs and other cutbacks within many companies.

comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending August 2010. The report ranked the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone operating system (OS) platforms in the U.S. according to their share of current mobile subscribers ages 13 and older, and reviewed the most popular activities and content accessed via the subscriber’s primary mobile phone. The August report found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 23.6 percent market share, while RIM led among smartphone platforms with 37.6 percent market share.

Consumers’ views about the economy were unchanged from August to September, but the number of consumers feeling that their personal finances are getting worse rose for the sixth consecutive month and reached a nine-month high, according to the Discover U.S. Spending Monitor.