LAST week, a booming jobs report saved the US stock market from a major decline and the rebound could continue this week as long as there are no nasty surprises from corporate earnings, the retail sector, or Hong Kong.

US employers added almost 250,000 workers in September, and the unemployment rate dropped to 5.9 per cent, within reach of the 5 per cent-level viewed by some economists as the optimum "full employment" level.

One labour market statistic remains at odds with those encouraging numbers, however: the "participation rate" is still falling, meaning that hundreds of thousands of people are dropping out of the labour force. Economists are divided on whether these people are baby boomers opting for early retirement because of new health insurance options available to them, or people of prime working age made redundant by automation technology or otherwise.