Agustino Fontevecchia of Forbes.com interviews Dave Huether, the National Association of Manufacturers’ chief economist, on the latest unemployment report and the impact of uncertainty on the economy. From “Uncertainty Weighs On Manufacturing Jobs“:

Within the private sector, which added 64,000 jobs as a whole in September, manufacturing recorded the second-largest job decline for September, trailing the construction sector drop of 21,000 jobs. But given the size of the sector, manufacturing’s decline was relatively small. “The sector is made up of 19 or 20 industries, so a decline of 6,000 jobs spread out that much isn’t a big preoccupation,” says Huether. More troubling is that temporary jobs, which usually precede full-time hiring, did not pick up.

For firms in manufacturing, the economic recovery has been sweet and sour. “Manufacturing led the recovery last year, but partially due to temporary factors,” says Huether, who cited tax credits for purchases of homes and efficient appliances, the Cash For Clunkers program, and the stimulus package. With those programs expiring or running their course, the resulting slowdown is unsurprising, according to Huether. “This weakness is a sort of a hangover, a sort of payback.”

Meanwhile, north of the border, The Sun reports, “Jobless rate shows signs of cooling economy“:

Canada’s labour market continued to show signs of stalling in September, with minimal gains reported in key industries and a slight dip in unemployment related to less youth actively looking for work.

The country’s unemployment rate dipped ever so slightly to 8 per in September, down 0.1 per cent, Statistics Canada reported on Friday.