From the BLS, Employment Situation Summary:

Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 240,000 in October, and the unemployment rate rose from 6.1 to 6.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. October’s drop in payroll employment followed declines of 127,000 in August and 284,000 in September, as revised. Employment has fallen by 1.2 million in the first 10 months of 2008; over half of the decrease has occurred in the past 3 months. In October, job losses continued in manufacturing, construc- tion, and several service-providing industries. Health care and mining continued to add jobs.

I’m really glad that Goldman changed their expectations to 300,000. That put a little bit of cushion into the market. These numbers are terrible, but still better than the Goldman number. Unfortunately, I don’t think mining will continue to show strength for very long. For the market, it’s going to be all about GM today.