November's 94,000 added jobs statistic is likely to tip the scales in favor of a quarter-point cut in short-term interest rates instead of a half-point cut, economists and analysts say. "The November job creation number, while not outstanding, is more than enough to quell the half-point hawks," economist Steve Affinito told BloggingStocks Friday. "The Fed will cut interest rates by one-quarter point next week."
Affinito said the November 2007 jobs report was "the sole bright spot" after a string of negative economic data recently reported for the U.S. economy. That data points to a slow-growing U.S. economy (or possibly worse) through Q1 2008, many economists agree.
"If we can register 2% GDP growth in the first quarter of next year, that would be acceptable at this point, and I would take it," Affinito said, adding that Q1 could conceivably show a contraction. For Q4 2007 Affinito estimates that the economy will have slowed to 2.3-2.6% growth.
The number of mortgage delinquencies rose to a 20-year high in Q3 as borrowers increasingly found it difficult to make payments within the 30-day grace period, 
Why do we have a weak dollar?
Holiday hiring slow for retailers
Closing Bell: What sell-off? (AIG, ABK, EPR, MBI, JAVA, ORCL, ERTS)
