With the US presidential election taking place tomorrow, the announcement made on Friday (2 November) – that the nation’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 7.9% remained steady between September and October – is being hailed as a boost for incumbent President Barack Obama.

The economy added 171,000 jobs across the month, and the number of unemployed persons was essentially unchanged – remaining below what many sections of the media have labelled the “symbolic” 8% mark, having stood at 8.9% last October.

Within this, seasonally adjusted data for temporary staffing employment showed the number of jobs increased by 13,600 from September to October, up just 0.5%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics which produces jobs data clarified within its statistical release that Hurricane Sandy had not affected the data, having signalled its intention in an announcement at the beginning of last week that the potentially crucial data would not be delayed by the storm, as reported by recruiter.co.uk.