"The holiday

shopping season officially kicks off the day after Thanksgiving, and retailers

began in October to beef up their work forces in preparation for a busy

season," he said. "This time of year gives some people who have

not been in the work force a chance to gain valuable work experience.

For those who have been on the sidelines, it's a good time to get in the

game," he said.

The state added

10,800 new jobs during October, bringing its total to 4,024,200. The latest

figures from the labor department show a slowing in the state's annualized

job growth rate over the past eight months. The annualized job growth

rate has declined from 4.2 percent in March to 1.8 percent in October,

a drop of 56 percent.

In absolute

numbers, 161,400 jobs were added between March 1999 and March 2000, while

only 71,300 were added between October 1999 and October 2000.