The dismal jobs front got a bit more good news, following the release of a report showing the nation's employers last year cut the fewest number of workers in more than a decade. Further, the findings showed 2010 ended on a high note, with December recording the lowest number of monthly cuts since 2000.

The slowdown in cuts follows an uptick in activity in 2009 when downsizing reached a seven-year high, according to the 2010 year-end job-cut report, released Wednesday by job-services firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Last year, employers announced plans to eliminate 529,973 positions, the lowest number since 1997.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has an indicator that tracks the number of people who simply quit their jobs. CNBC.com reported that the indicator, which they dubbed "Take This Job and Shove It," climbed in October with 2 million people quitting their jobs, up from 1.7 million in the same month a year ago. The last time this pattern occurred was in 2003 when the economy started a long upward trend.

The "Shove It" indicator tends to turn up when people are confident enough that they will find another job if they quit their present one.

The Labor Department issued its Jobs Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) today, as reported by CNBC.com. Here are some available stats:

• Business and government advertised 3.4 million jobs at the end of October, up 12% from the previous month.
• The number of available jobs increased by about 1 million or 44% since July 2009. This was well below the 4.4 million advertised in December 2007.
• There were on average 4.4 workers for each available job in October, down slightly from the 4.9 the previous month.
• In 2007 the number stood at 1.8 workers for each available job.

In a breakthrough on the jobs front, the U.S. added 93,000 private sector jobs from October to November, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report released today. The previous month's report was revised upward to 82,000 from 43,000.

November's gain was the largest private sector rise in three years. It is also the tenth month in which job growth has exceeded 47,000.

By sectors, gains were as follows:

Fewer business start-ups are being launched, reports the the Wall Street Journal. The Labor Department said that the number of companies with at least one employee fell by 100,000, or 2%, in the year ended March 31. That was the second worst performance in 18 years -- the worst one was a drop of 3.4% the previous year.

Why are these numbers important? In past recessions small business start-ups were the key to spurring the economy. In the three quarters that ended in March, newly formed companies created only 2.6 million jobs, 15% fewer than in the first three quarters of the last recovery.

Alcoa (AA), Marriott (MAR) and Yum! Brands (YUM) kick off the new earnings season this week. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for moderate year-over-year earnings and revenue growth in the third quarter from each of these dividend payers.

Note that Marriott and Yum! Brands have exceeded consensus estimates in recent quarters and have First Call consensus buy recommendations as well. They are also trading near their 52-week highs, while Alcoa shares are closer to the 52-week low despite a 22% rise in the past three months.

The Conference Board issues a monthly employment trends index. In August, seven of the index components contributed negatively to the overall index, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The August index stood at 96.7, down from July's 97.4. "Employment growth has been slow lately, and the employment trends index suggests that it may slow even further this fall," said Gad, Levanon, associate director.

Many were expecting good news out of the Labor Department when it released the nonfarm payroll report for July. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case -- and the morning has taken a decidedly bearish tone.

According to the Labor Department, 131,000 jobs were lost during the month. The drop was attributed to the fact that 143,000 Census-related jobs were cut. Analysts expected overall employment to absorb the number of temporary jobs cut and show a drop of 65,000. When revising payrolls for May and June the picture turned even bleaker. The Labor Department revised the reading for those two months lower by 97,000, meaning fewer jobs than originally thought were created.

Investors and economists received a rather nasty surprise this morning when the Labor Department released its weekly data on initial claims for jobless benefits. According to the Labor Department, new claims for unemployment insurance rose by 19,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 479,000.

The government did note that some of the surprise increase (a small decrease was expected) may be attributed to difficulties the government has in adjusting for seasonal factors. The four-week average of initial claims increased by 5,250 to 452,250.

According to the ADP employment payroll report released Wednesday morning, private-sector employment in the United States increased by 42,000. This data is a precursor to Friday's nonfarm payroll report, which is expected to show a decline of 60,000. July's increase was the sixth straight increase.

With experts predicting a drop of 60,000 jobs, I have one major concern. According to the article, analysts are expecting an increase of 96,000 jobs in the private sector. But the private sector (while it did report an increase) reported far fewer than 96,000 added jobs.