The October jobs report will be marred by data collection issues caused by the government shutdown. However, the headline gauge of nonfarm payroll creation — the one the market likes to pay attention to — should be relatively clean. The BLS "establishment survey" from which the nonfarm payroll number is derived counts as employed those who were paid during the survey period, and since federal workers furloughed by the shutdown received back-pay, they won't drag down the payroll numbers. "The only way the payrolls data could have been adversely affected by the shutdown is if private-sector government contractors ... (full story)