ADP National Employment Report

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose for the second straight week, a sign the hiring market is recovering at a slow and uneven pace. Weekly applications for unemployment benefits rose 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 402,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Applications had been below 400,000 for three straight weeks.

The nation's struggling jobs picture continued to improve in October, despite ongoing concern about the anemic economic recovery, two reports showed Wednesday. Private employers in the U.S. added 110,000 jobs last month, according to the ADP National Employment Report, more than the 101,000 analysts expected, Reuters reported.

As the creation of new jobs slows and layoffs continue, small businesses keep hiring. ADP is betting those companies will continue to buck the trend. It's setting up new services to capitalize on that growth.

Private employers added 187,000 jobs in January, ADP announced Wednesday, 47,000 more then economists had predicted. That marks the fourth straight month of significant job gains -- a trend that suggests the U.S. labor market is recovering.

The all-important January employment reports come out this week. Also worth watching for are a host of earnings releases, led by economic bellwhether UPS. The package deliverer is expected to post strong results.

Amid some promising signs -- which are turning the heads of even some bears -- structural unemployment continues to be painful as the ranks of the long-term jobless keep swelling. This is a distinction that should be far more central to government policy than it currently is.

If the stock market reflected the entire economy, happy days would surely be here again. But, alas, it reflects just the profit potential of public companies. And for millions of unemployed Americans, that's proving to be no help at all.

In Asia Thursday the Nikkei 225 Index edged down 0.1% to 9,685 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index remained virtually unchanged at 22,884. Markets in China remained closed.

Here's news from the business world and other money matters to watch out for Wednesday (last updated at 8:26 a.m. Eastern time). GM, Ford Report Higher Sales: Automakers reported mixed results for July sales, as a softening economy held back consumers from making some big-ticket purchases. But...

The private sector cut just 22,000 jobs in January, ADP said -- another sign that U.S. labor markets continue to heal. Also, midsize companies added 9,000 employees -- the first job increase in that category in two years.