Was temporary or a bit more. Its also the penultimate jobs report before the federal reserves next meeting in december, where many believe the central bank might raise Interest Rates. Hampton pearson takes a look at what to expect and where we stand. Reporter most of the economists and fed watchers are looking for a rebound in job growth in october. The Consensus Forecast calls for an increase of 180,000 jobs added to nonfarm payrolls, well above the average of just 139,000 for august and september. With headline Unemployment Holding steady at 5. 1 . Were expecting about 180. If it comes in anywhere north of 150, i think the market will still believe that they plan on tightening. Reporter its the first of two employment reports that will be on the desk of Monetary Policy makers when they meet in december. A meeting described this week by fed chair janet yellen as a live possibility for the first rate hike in nearly a decade. What the committee has been expecting is that the economy will continue to grow at a pace thats sufficient to generate further improvements in the labor market and to return inflation to our 2 target over the medium term. Reporter the Economic Data is mixed. Last week jobless claims posted the biggest weekly increase since february. But the fourweek moving average shows claims at their lowest level since november of 2000. Meanwhile, the Labor Department says worker productivity actually increased in the Third Quarter with manufacturing producing more new cars and other big ticket durable goods leading the way. But yearoveryear productivity remains week and a major contributor to stagnant wages, economists say, because businesses are reluctant to invest in new plants and hire more workers. Getting more out of each worker employed for the same growth of output, youll need fewer people and payroll growth will slow. Reporter a rebound in Consumer Spending has been the key to Overall Economic growth. A strong jobs report heading into the Holiday Season could make that fed decision in mid december a little more transparent. For nightly Business Report im Hampton Pearson in washington. Despite some disappointing jobs data this week the Staffing FirmChallenger Gray christmas released positive labor news today. According to the report, overall layoffs fell 14 last month, but the number of job cuts in the oil patch jumped to a sixmonth high as that industry struggles with persistently low energy prices. So john sylvia joins us now to talk more about the state of the labor market and what this mixed data is really telling us about the jobs picture. He is chief economist at wells fargo securities. Good to see you again, john. Welcome back. Thank you. Lets start first of all with how you interpret this data. It has been choppy. Its been a little bit confusing. Tell me how you see the labor market right now. I think hamptons got it right. There will be a rebound. 180,000, 190,000 sounds about right to us. But i certainly agree with your characterization of mixed because what were really seeing is the Domestic Service sector of the united states, especially, you know, Consumer Spending, as was mentioned earlier, was really pretty solid. What is week of course is the manufacturing in the export sector. So what weve seen is the Service Numbers are pretty good in terms of jobs. But manufacturings taking a little bit of a hit. Indeed it is a mixed picture. Kind of a tale of two economies if you will. What is the growth rate in jobs going to like for the foreseeable future . I think its going to moderate relative to the last two or three years. Weve had really pretty solid years of job gains of 200,000, 220,000 on average. I think what were going to see now going forward, 180,000, 190,000, probably is going to be the pace of job gains over the next 12 months. I think one of the challenges here, as im sure youre aware, is Labor Force Participation rates have slowed down. Labor force growth has slowed down. And as a result theres just less people coming in and somehow companies have become accustomed to slower economic growth. So they demand fewer workers. So there is definitely a slowdown in place. And i know that the fed is probably looking at all of these very same things. Where do you think it puts them in terms of a possible Interest Rate hike in december . Because that has also been the big topic of discussion after ms. Yellens testimony the other day. Yeah, there still seems to be an expression at the fed that their expected inflation rate will pick up toward 2 . And my sense is with the gains in employment, the Unemployment Rate staying around 5 , 5. 1 , that thats probably going to be enough evidence for the fed to move into december. All right, john, well leave it there. Thank you so much. John sylvia with wells fargo securities. Thank you. Dow component disney posting a mixed Quarterly Earnings report on an adjusted basis. The Entertainment Company earned 1. 20 a share, beating estimates by six cents. Helped out by its media networks, particularly espn. Revenue of 13. 5 billion was a very slight miss but essentially pretty much in line. Shares were volatile after the report and were off a fraction in the regular session, closing at 113 a share. Julia boorstin tells us the one thing investors should focus on in disneys numbers. Strength at espn and disneys other Cable Networks drove disneys earnings higher than wall street predicted. That strength of espn perhaps surprising after igers comments last quarter lowering expectations for espn and raising concerns about the health of the traditional tv business sparked a selloff of media stocks. We feel really bullish about our television businesses, in particular espn, and look back on the quarter if we could do it over we wouldnt. We wanted to be candid about what we were seeing. The fact remains that the guidance that we updated back then remains in place today and espns future, particularly given the array of great programming that they have and the demand that i just mentioned thats out there in the marketplace for it remains very bright. Iger saying that as disney sees more competition from platforms that offer more mobility he sees more opportunity than ever to distribute disney content direct to consumers and to reach a bigger audience. Back to you. Thank you, julia. Stocks barely budged as investors wait for tomorrows employment report. The Dow Jones Industrial average was off four points to close at 17,863. The nasdaq fell 14 points. And the s p 500 was down two points. Well, this Holiday Season is fast approaching, and the Postal Service is gearing up. Its expecting to deliver more than 15 billion pieces of holiday mail and packages this year between thanksgiving and new years eve. Thats a 10 increase when compared with last years volume. The Postal Service plans to hire 30,000 employees to meet that demand. Its also the busiest season of the year for the shipping industry and its biggest carrier is issuing a profit warning. And thats not the only worrisome sign for an industry thats deeply entwined with the Global Economy. Morgan brennan has more. Reporter call it a shipping slump. The worlds biggest ocean carrier, maersk, is slashing 4,000 jobs and hoping deliveries of new vessel, this after a surprise profit warning. And maersk isnt alone. Many operators reporting disappointing earnings and downbeat outlooks. And german operator hafheg lloyd, which is going public, has had to cut the terms of its Stock Offering several times. Analysts say the industry is facing a number of headwinds. Developed economy demand has been fairly slow. So weve seen, you know, overall deceleration in the pace of demand growth. We have seen a lot of supply coming on as well. But really thats one of the major factors, is the fact were just not growing as a Global Economy as fast as we have in the past. Reporter shipping association binco says 2015 is experiencing the highest inflow of new capacity ever. As mega ships capable of carrying tens of thousands of containers come online. Couple that with slowing Global Economic growth, particularly in china and europe, and shipping rates have plunged to multiyear lows. Still, not every company in the business is struggling. Cspan corporation, which owns and leases ships in longterm contracts believes this is a shortterm rough patch. We are very confident in longterm prospects of the industry. The industry has gotten much bigger and much more sophisticateed. The operators, our customers know how to navigate through the ups and downs. The demand has been weak for certain trades but north american trade is very, very strong. Reporter but whether north american trade can remain strong is the key. U. S. Economic growth slowed to 1. 5 in the Third Quarter. According to early estimates from the commerce department. And some container Ship Operators are warning that the late summer through fall peak season when they ship all those retail goods in containers never really came. That could be an early indicator that the holidays might not be as strong as expected. For nightly Business Report im morgan brennan. Coming up, a 40 billion industry that relies heavily on honesty and why that could have a big impact on what you eat. When you think of seattle and business, names like microsoft and amazon are likely to come to mind. And as kate rogers tells us, those big names are helping to attract talent and make seattles startup scene one of the best around. Reporter microsoft hasnt been a startup in decades since bill gates and paul allen launched out of a garage in 1975. But the tech giant, which is based in redmond, washington is getting back to its roots in nearby seattle, gearing up for its latest cohort of microsoft ventures. This is microsofts Global Accelerator program with 410 graduates that have raised 1. 2 billion collectively in funding. This latest round of startups in seattle will focus on Machine Learning. You have great Enterprise Companies in this area. So its a great place for us to do both work with startups on clouds, work with startups on enterprise software, and you know, were very interested in this class with data scientists and the whole Machine Learning space. Reporter from anchor tenants like microsoft and amazon to a network of incubeators and accelerators for new companies, seattles startup scene is thriving. It ranked number 8 on compuss Global Startup ecosystem for 2015 for startup cities around the world. As far as accelerators go, pledge is a bit different. If you want to become the next editsy or toms shoes this is the place to be. Pledge helps what we call Conscious Companies which are missiondriven forprofit companies. Companies that are trying to do good in the world but doing it as a business. Reporter applicants come from all over the globe. In 3 1 2 years theyve had 39 grads collectively raise 10 million. The accelerator is funded by impact and angel investors. And past grads have found ways to recycle cotton and grow sustainable escargot domestically. And cash is flowing into seattle quickly. In fact, in the first half of 2015 there have been 99 deals so far with more than 900 million in investment. But theres one more area of growth in seattle that cant be overlooked. Recreational marijuana. After being legalized in 2012 and going on sale last year, entrepreneurs like Ian Eisenberg are cashing in. Hes doing about 1. 4 million in sales each month. Well, seattles always been sort of the end of the line frontier city, and it still is. You know, were leading the world right now in legalized pot. And its also got a vibrant arts scene and music scene. Its not just tech. Industry watcher green wave advisers llc projects seattles recreational market will hit 49 million in 2015, up from approximately 9 million in the second half of 2014. Tech startups to Conscious Companies and even marijuana shops. Emerald citys Small Businesses are seeing green. For nightly Business Report in seattle, washington im kate rogers. Cost cuts helped ralph lauren post results that top estimates. That is where we begin tonights market focus. Although the apparel maker posted results that were better than expected, its quarterlies were lower as compared to last year. This as the strong dollar resulted in a decrease in tourism in the companys recent quarter. That weighed on store traffic. Nevertheless, shares soared 15 to 135. 45 mick making it the best performing stock in the s p 500 today. Kraft heinz reported declining results following its recent merger. The Company Also Announced a dividend hike. Its payout will now be 57 1 2 cents a share and will be payable on november 20th. Shares were volatile in afterhours trading. During the regular session the stock was off just a fraction to 75. 42. The new York Attorney general has launched an investigation into exxonmobil. The probe is looking into whether or not the company misled the public about the risks of Climate Change and how those risks may hurt its oil business. Shares of the dow component fell more than 1 to 84. 81. An executive announcement from united continental. The ceo saying he plans to return to work in the First Quarter of 2016. Hes been out on medical leave following a heart attack. Shares rose slightly in initial afterhours trading. During the regular session the stock was little changed to close at 60. 30. Valeant pharmaceuticals fell sharply again today in the wake of a Senate Committee launching an investigation into drug price increases. Some on wall street are also reportedly growing concerned that a wall street journal article may show one of the companys big shareholders might be wavering in support of valeants management. The to be plunged more than 14 to 78. 77. Time, inc. Issued a disappointing guidance. This as the publisher continues to see a decline in print advertising revenue. But thats partially being offset by an increase in digital ads. Shares fell more than 5 to 18. 01. And shake shack delivered strong results and reported a big increase in same restaurant sales. On that the burger chain hiked its revenue forecast. Shares popped initially after the close. During the regular session the stock was up 4 1 2 to 51. 11. Shares of whole foods were down more than 2 after missing on its earnings last night. The companys profit fell by more than half thanks in part to the intense competition because organic foods are now more widely available. So as americans dish out more money for natural foods, are they really getting what theyre paying for . Jane wells has the dirt on what it really means to be organic and if you should trust it. Reporter at last months meeting in vermont of the National Organic standards board, a Government Group which sets rules for the organic industry, local farmers protested outside that not everyone Certified Organic grows in soil, and inside the meeting not one egglaying operation had any chickens outside. Reporter another group accused the usda organic program of being in bed with big agribusiness. Its a sign that some want to payne about organic. An industry which has grown to nearly 40 billion in sales last year in the u. S. Closing in on nearly 5 of all foods sold. Theres so much competition. And with kind of the recent challenges, growing challenges especially with the drought, the recent drought, weve seen costs rise and prices kind of come down. Reporter garrett nishimoris family has been growing organic greens for 12 years in california. There are 24,000 Certified Organic producers in the u. S. And more outside the country sending food here. But food bearing that usda Certified Organic label isnt actually checked by the usda but by thirdparty contractors. Its webbing from the mealey bug. Reporter and certifiers are paid by the farmer. Bundle grass. Reporter to become Certified Organic a farm cannot have anything conventionally grown on it for three years. Producers have to submit a plan and provide proof theyre not used banned pesticides or herbicides. Theres a lot of paperwork and an annual audit like the one tim chang of certifying agency ccof was doing with debbie zigglebaum of robert sinski vineyards in napa. Chang looked everything over but he did not take soil samples or test for pesticide residue. His company says thats done 5 of the time and there are also surprise inspections. But former certifier misha popov, who worked for a different agency, said he never did any of that. Sadly, we cant trust the organic label right now. Its a bureaucratic honorbased system. And thats unfortunate for all the honest organic farmers out there. I think its really a mistake to make the assumption that the system is full of cheaters. Theres no evidence for that. Its an honor system, right . There are things th