Revisions to the way payroll data firm ADP counts private sector job creation have resulted in a sharp drop in the September employment count.

ADP's new calculations put the monthly job creation at just 88,200, down from the 162,000 the firm originally reported earlier this month.

Economists expect Friday's report to show 125,000 new jobs and the jobless rate to hold steady.

When the Labor Department revealed its September job count, it sparked criticism from some quarters that the numbers were being manipulated for political purposes as the November presidential election drew near.

The soft ADP count could add credence to those who believe the pace of job creation is slower than the government's numbers indicate.

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A Swedish town has taken to paying people to look for work in Norway in an attempt to reduce soaring youth unemployment.

Under a scheme organised by the local authorities in the town of Soderhamn and by Sweden's national employment office, anyone aged between 18 and 28 can volunteer to take a "Job Journey" to Oslo and attempt track down gainful employment.

Those who sign up get a ticket to the Norwegian capital and are put up in an Oslo youth hostel for a month, with Soderhamn council picking up the £20 a night bill. The package also includes on-the-spot guidance on how to get a job in Sweden's northern neighbour.

So far around 100 people have decided to leave Soderhamn, a town of 12,000, 250 kilometres due north of Stockholm, to try their luck in the bright lights of Oslo, and some, at least, have struck gold.

After two years on the doll in his hometown Andreas Larsson opted for a "Job Journey" to Norway and now works as a lorry driver in Oslo.

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Iowa has joined Texas in warning international election observers of possible criminal prosecution if they violate state laws and get near polling places on Election Day.

Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz — like Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott last week — on Tuesday threatened Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe election observers with arrest if they came within 300 feet of a polling place’s entrance, in violation of state law. (In Texas, it’s 100 feet.)

The OSCE — comprised of 56 countries, including the United States — is chiefly a crisis mediation and conflict resolution group in Europe, Asia and North America. Since 2002, the organization’s poll watchers have observed six U.S. elections, without incident,

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A couple busted for cooking meth in a Daytona Beach Shores motel this morning told cops they had plans to make more drugs this afternoon — after one of them had a meth-related court appearance.

Renter Pete Atwood, 65, and a woman described as his "associate," 32-year-old Joleen Crisp, were making meth this morning in the room, investigators with the Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety said.

"Atwood told officers that he and Crisp manufacture the drug in the room and were going to produce another batch later today after Crisp's court appearance for a previous charge related to manufacturing meth," police said in a report.

Both were charged with manufacturing methamphetamine