Friday's jobs report takes on huge importance as it is the final word on the US labor market before the Federal Reserve's huge monetary policy meeting on December 15-16. With the Federal Open Markets Committee appearing to be inching closer to hiking rates for the first time since June 2006, a decent gain in jobs could help to end this era of extraordinary easy monetary policy. Wall Street's top economists have weighed in with their expectations for both the gain in jobs and the direction of the unemployment rate. The consensus forecast is 200,000 jobs added in November and for the unemployment rate to stay unchanged ... (full story)