Payroll Gains in U.S. Probably Cooled as Jobless Rate Stagnated

Employers probably took on fewer workers in October, illustrating the “frustratingly slow” recovery that led Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke to say the U.S. central bank may need to take additional action, economists said before a report today.

Payrolls climbed by 95,000 following a 103,000 September increase, according to the median forecast of 91 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The jobless rate was 9.1 percent for a fourth consecutive month, the figures may show.