After Wall Street stabilized in the spring, it didn't take long for the economy to become a political afterthought to the major battle of the year in Washington: health-care reform. But Tuesday's off-year election broke D.C.'s political trance like a brick through plate glass. Republicans triumphed in two major gubernatorial races, thanks largely to independents fleeing Democrats over economic worries. Suddenly every politician in town cares about the economy more than anything else.

So Friday's jobless number from the Labor Department will quickly become a political football. The Labor Department reported that the widely watched unemployment rate rose to 10.2%, the highest rate since April 1983, as nonfarm payrolls declined by 191,000 in October, down from a revised loss of 219,000 jobs in September.

The job news may actually provide fuel for both camps. The rising unemployment rate bolsters Republicans who have been arguing that the stimulus bill, which most economists credit with speeding economic recovery, has only made matters worse on the job front, with October's numbers showing that the economy is continuing to shed jobs. "It's bewildering to see the same Administration that sold its trillion-dollar spending plan this spring as a guarantee against 8% unemployment claiming it created 1 million jobs, especially since it is a sad fact 3 million jobs have been lost since the stimulus was signed into law," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday, Nov. 5.