Retailers Cut 6,500 Jobs in October

WASHINGTON — U.S. department and specialty stores shed a combined 6,500 jobs from payrolls in October, as a surprise uptick in overall job growth for the month gave Wall Street investors some confidence after a sharp tumble in stocks on Thursday.

U.S. textile and apparel manufacturers continued their long-term down slide, cutting 4,900 seasonally adjusted jobs from payrolls as factories felt the bite of foreign competition.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 52.76 points, or 0.39 percent, to 13,515.11 in mid-morning trading, while the Standard & Poor’s Index fell 6.88 points, or 0.46 percent, to 1,501.56. The Nasdaq showed the first rebound, rising 3.44 points, or 0.12 percent to 2,798.27.

For more, see Monday’s issue of WWD.