The price at the cash register ticked higher in October, though it was driven by the cost at the pump and on the lot.

Energy prices and new car sales (the highest in 28 years) pushed consumer prices upward in October, they're still cheaper than they were a year earlier. The Labor Department reports that consumer prices edged up 0.3% last month, a tad higher than the 0.2% anticipated. Take food and energy out of the equation, and inflation rose 0.2%, again ahead of the 0.1% that analysts expected.

Consumer borrowing fell for the eighth straight month in September. This record-setting streak is due largely to tightening by lenders, unemployment and the conservative preference to pay down debt rather than spend. This widespread fit of fiscal responsibility, economists fret, could prevent a recovery from taking root, since consumer spending is responsible for 70% of the U.S. economy. This conventional thinking, of course, overlooks the fact that an eventual increase in spending that isn't fueled by consumer spending will yield a recovery that's more likely to last.

According to the Federal Reserve, borrowing fell at an annual rate of $14.8 billion in September -- it's biggest drop since July and much larger than the $10 billion predicted by economists. The behavior is exactly what you'd find in people worried about losing their jobs or focused on rebuilding safety funds and investment portfolios. Those who want to borrow are finding banks won't be complicit this time, as they clamp down on lending practices.

Job losses continued to mount in September. Unfortunately, the numbers are even worse than expected.

According to the ADP National Employment Report, employers shed 254,000 jobs in September. Analysts had been expecting to see the number of job losses at 200,000 in the month.

Retail sales gained a seasonally-adjusted 2.7% in August, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. This follows a 0.2% decline in July. The August results beat analyst expectations soundly, lending support to talk of a recovery. The Cash for Clunkers program is cited as contributing to August sales.

Without autos, sales increased 1.1%, still ahead of the anticipated 0.4% gain. Take gas out of the measure, as well, and retail sales grew 0.6%.

Inventories fell in July, for the twelfth month in a row, with the 1% decline a tad higher than the 0.9% anticipated by many economists.

The rate at which jobs were cut slowed in August, but the gap to be filled will be with us for a while. With 14.9 million people looking for jobs according to Moody's Economy.com, the unemployment rate won't hit 5% -- considered "normal" -- until 2014. To put this in perspective, we still have one presidential election and two mid-term contests between now and a full employment recovery.

Data published by the Department of Labor Friday puts the unemployment rate at 9.7%. In December 2007, it was only 4.7%. And, as BloggingStocks reported on Friday, it could pass 10% by the end of 2009. For teenagers, the unemployment rate has reached 26%. The number of job-seekers who have given up completely is above 750,000 -- the highest level since the Department of Labor started keeping score in 1994.

As we saw this morning, companies cut 298,000 jobs in August, according to ADP. The forecast was for 250,000 jobs lost. The report also revised last month's decline to 360,000.

Well, the Labor Department's report is due out in two days, and it may show a loss of 225,000 jobs, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

Over the past couple of months we have seen oil prices move steadily higher, but the precious crude sold off Monday as economic concerns returned to the market.

What a difference a week makes. This time last week we were seeing increased optimism that the current recession was nearing its end, but those hopes were wiped out late last week by disappointing consumer confidence and employment data.

Jobless claims closed out 2008 basically the way they came in: abysmally.

U.S. weekly jobless claims fell 94,000 to 492,000 for the week ending December 27, the U.S. Labor Department announced Wednesday, but the weekly total nevertheless remained 45% higher than a year ago.

Even worse, continuing claims rocketed 140,000 higher to 4.51 million -- the highest continuing claims total since December 1982. Economists note that the high continuing claims level reflects labor market stress, and the long time it takes for those downsized to find comparable employment. Few companies are filling vacancies, and even temporary work assignments are declining, another negative sign for the labor market.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected this week's initial jobless claims to total 550,000.

Yet another ignominious data point for the job market, and by extension, for the U.S. economy and the stock market.

U.S. initial jobless claims surged 30,000 to 586,000 for the week ending December 20, the U.S. Labor Department announced Wednesday -- the highest initial weekly jobless claims total since 1982.

"Any level above 500,000 is high, but now we're soaring toward 600,000. This has to be reversed soon, or the unemployment rate is going to sail over 8% by the time the recovery starts," economist Peter Dawson said.

The U.S. unemployment rate currently is 6.7%. An 8% unemployment rate "would be very bad news for corporate revenue and earnings, and the stock market, in addition to increasing social service costs of the states," Dawson said.

If people don't know this, it is worth pointing out. If they do, it is worth repeating. Unemployment in the U.S. is well above 10%. The government numbers do not include those people who are "no longer looking for work" or those who are not receiving unemployment payments.

According to The New York Times, "The Labor Department does publish an alternate measure of unemployment, which counts part-time workers who want full-time work, as well as anyone who has looked for work in the last year."

That would put the total "unemployment" rate closer to 13%.

It raises the issue of how close the U.S. is to the much higher rates of joblessness in the Great Depression. The number of people without work rose to 25%. The government did not make the distinctions then by subtracting people who were part-time.

If, using the government's yard stick, unemployment in the U.S. gets to the double digits next year, the economy is closer to a depression than it might appear.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

After a brief selloff yesterday, oil prices have been moving higher in today's action. Buyers have come back into the market today and pushed prices up as high as $95.00 earlier in the session, Prices nd are now up $1.20 to $94.69.

The main reason why prices have turned higher today is optimism about the economy created by this morning's better than expected October payroll report. According to the U.S. Labor Department, October saw a 166,000 increase in payrolls, which was more than twice the 80,000 increase that analysts expected.

The better-than-expected payroll report was enough to create some optimism of the overall economy, and put some recession fears to rest. According to Michael Lynch, who is president of Strategic Energy and Economic Research Inc., "It suggests that concerns about the economy ... are overblown a little bit."

Everyone's cheering today the strong payroll report released by the Labor Department, but if you take a closer look at the numbers you'll understand why so many middle class folks do not think the labor market offers them any good news. While the government reported that unemployment held steady at 4.7% and 166,000 jobs were created, you must look at where those jobs were created and where jobs were lost to get the true picture.

Job growth was created in the service sector, which added 190,000 jobs - led by food services (37,000 jobs - primarily at restaurants), employment services (34,000 jobs) and health care (34,000 jobs). Job losses were seen in the higher paying manufacturing sector where 21,000 jobs were lost in October and 203,000 jobs have been lost in the last year. Employment at banks and mortgage brokers dropped 5,000 where 56,000 people lost jobs since February and more layoffs are expected as the mortgage mess continues to grow.

Richard Moody, Chief Economist for Mission Residential, also found that 21,500 jobs were lost in retail trade during October, which he said is the third consecutive monthly decline. In his October NonFarm Report, he wrote, this "is a sign that retailers are not expecting great things in the coming months."

Earnings also were flat. Just a 0.2 cent gain in average hourly wage to $17.58 an hour with no gain in the average workweek of 33.8 hours.

If you're in the top executive ranks you're pay may look good, but for the middle class these numbers don't show much hope of earning a better paycheck.

Lita Epstein has written more than 20 books including the Complete Idiot's Guide to Improving Your Credit Score due out in December.

Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) -- as well as most other retail outlets -- is taking a dive this morning after the Labor Department reported the biggest increase in the number of jobless claims since February. Worries of a weak consumer environment going into the holiday season have weighed heavily on retail, with several stocks across the sector trading at new 52-week lows today. Sears is hit particularly hard by reports like these because the company does not report its interim data between earnings releases. All investors in SHLD have to go on in the quarterly report, similar companies' performances and broad economic data. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on SHLD.

After hitting a one-year high of $195.18 in April, the stock slipped to a 52-week low of $123.39 in September. This morning, SHLD opened at $134.66. So far today the stock has hit a low of $132.12 and a high of $134.75. As of 11:05, SHLD is trading at $132.61, down $2.61 (-1.9%). The chart for SHLD looks bullish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

September's U.S. job report released Friday reinforced two economics adages. Namely: 1) it's best to not put too much confidence in the U.S. Labor Department's initial monthly job statistic, as it will undoubtedly be revised; and 2) regarding job creation/reduction, it's best to use a 3-month or 6-month average, as it gives a more-complete and more-accurate picture of hiring conditions.

For example, in September's report, which indicated that 110,000 jobs were created -- more than analysts had expected -- the U.S. Labor Department also its revised the August job report to indicate that 89,000 jobs were created, up from a 4,000-job loss the Labor Department reported in its initial August tally.

Wall Street was encouraged by September's upside jobs surprise with the Dow gaining about 85 points to 14,063 in early Friday afternoon trading.