Business hiring is holding up, allaying concerns about a U.S. economic downdraft in the face of a looming fiscal cliff. Companies added an average 121,000 workers a month in the third quarter, up from 88,000 in the second quarter, Bloomberg said, according to Labor Department figures released on October 5. Total payrolls, including government, increased an average 146,000 a month, compared with 67,000 in the prior period.

The article noted a pullback in business investment had fanned concerns that companies would begin to pare hiring in anticipation of $600 billion in government spending cuts and tax increases at the start of 2013. The Congressional Budget Office has warned the economy will fall into recession if Congress allows the fiscal squeeze to go ahead.

To read the Bloomberg article click here.