"Despite" Gov't Shutdown, 204k Jobs Created in October

The government shutdown was supposed to cause economic Armageddon in the United States' economy. From pundits to the President, the short partial shutdown was about to unleash wave after wave of disaster. Instead, the brief respite of less government involvement actually led to a large increase of jobs in October, just as the economy picked up after the Sequester.

204,000 jobs were created last month.

The numbers easily topped economist expectations of 120,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs for the month, though it matched estimates for a slightly increase in the headline jobless rate.

"I find this bizarre," Moody's economist Mark Zandi told CNBC. "I wouldn't be surprised if this gets revised to some degree...down."

The data gave markets a jolt: Stock market futures that had indicated a higher opening turned lower, while interest rates spiked.