PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL A fresh glimpse of the labor market just days ahead of the presidential election gives the Obama Team some relief. U.S. employers added a greater- than-expected 171,000 jobs in October, while a separate Labor Department survey shows the unemployment rate ticked higher to 7.9 percent as more job hunters hit the pavement. Fresh hiring was seen in almost all sectors, though the government shed 13,000 jobs. Robert Brusca, Chief Economist, Fact and Opinion Economics: SOUNDBITE: ROBERT BRUSCA, CHIEF ECONOMIST, FACT AND OPINION ECONOMICS (ENGLISH) SAYING: "We got more job growth than expected. We got some substantial revisions. We got our second month of very large job growth out of the household report. But average hourly earnings declined and the workweek shortened and those are major flaws in the report." Temporary hiring, typically a strong barometer of future permanent hiring, rebounded in October. Despite the stronger-than-expected jobs report - stocks on Wall Street fell in a volatile session as energy and materials shares fell on earnings news in the sectors. The trading week was shortened by a historic two-day market closure on Monday and Tuesday, as Hurricane Sandy devastated the Northeast. By the close on Friday: The Dow, Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq all fell around 1 percent on the session. And for the week: The Dow and Nasdaq posted slight losses. In the overseas action: Modest increases for the DAX, CAC and FTSE. Hurricane Sandy held up some shipments of the latest gotta-have-it-gadget from Apple. The iPad mini made its worldwide debut Friday, with some shorter lines than usual. In the Northeast, Sandy may be to blame as many residents were caught in storm ravaged areas, while the higher price tag on the mini tablet may have kept fans in other areas at home.