12 TRILLION REASONS TO CUT RATES:

Jobs Growth Slows Sharply (TSC Staff, 10/6/2006), The Street)

August's figure, however, was revised sharply upward to 188,000 jobs from the previously reported 128,000.

The unemployment rate, which was expected to have held steady, fell slightly to 4.6% from 4.7%.

Average hourly earnings, a key inflation metric, rose by a lower-than-expected 0.2%.

The jobs data, which come after a slew of choppy economic figures, help to strengthen the case for the Federal Reserve to continue to keep interest rates steady, or possibly even bring in a rate cut.