You'd be forgiven for being bored by the September jobs report. There is nothing sexy about the latest numbers, which were released Tuesday morning: The economy picked up 148,000 jobs and unemployment fell slightly to 7.2 percent. The report was not heartening, particularly as the country gears up for another round of year-end budget talks, which have led to confidence-damaging fights in the past.

The key phrase for the September report is "little change." The total number of unemployed Americans is little changed from August at 11.3 million.