How was the job market in October? Don’t look to the government to answer that question right now. The shutdown of the federal government — now the longest-running in US history — has delayed two consecutive job reports from the Labor Department. October’s should’ve been released today, while September’s was originally scheduled for release on Oct. 3. That means the most recent comprehensive picture of the state of the labor market is from August, when data showed a 4.3% unemployment rate, a modest gain of 22,000 jobs, along with stalled hiring and separations. Private data sources are available and referenced often, ... (full story)