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BALTIMORE — U.S. businesses added a mere 125,000 jobs in October, a slowdown in hiring driven in part by job cuts in manufacturing and construction.

For the first time, the United States and Mexico joined Canada in a weeklong hazardous materials “road blitz” enforcement event, placing more than 7.4% of trucks inspected out-of-service for transportation of dangerous goods or hazmat violations, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance said on Oct. 29.

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer confidence has fallen for a third consecutive month as optimism about job prospects and business conditions down the road grow weaker.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The long-planned initial public offering of a sliver of Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil giant Saudi Aramco will see shares traded on Riyadh’s stock exchange in December, a Saudi-owned satellite news channel reported Oct. 29 as the kingdom’s marquee investment forum got underway.

WASHINGTON — General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota and many others in the auto industry are siding with the Trump administration in a lawsuit over whether California has the right to set its own greenhouse gas emissions and fuel-economy standards.

The U.S. average retail price of diesel rose 1.4 cents to $3.064 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Oct. 28.

The Department of Health and Human Services has established scientific and technical guidelines for the inclusion of oral fluid specimens for use in the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs.

NEW YORK — Many small companies tied to the housing market are seeing a slowdown in business, one that’s forecast to continue well into 2020.

With U.S. grain exports expected to fall more than 20% in the 2019 crop year, Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., Bunge Ltd. and Cargill Inc. are making less money buying and selling crops.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance will continue to urge government officials, including those recently elected, to establish a drug and alcohol testing program.