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Struggling to deliver the big jobs package proposed by President Barack Obama, Senate Democrats are using the issue to force Republican senators to vote on tax increases for millionaires, picking up on a White House theme that the nation's wealthiest Americans aren't paying their fair share.

Two days before the government's much-anticipated jobs report, a snapshot of employment trends in the service sector flashed an ominous sign.

Service firms that employ 90 percent of the U.S. work force expanded at a slightly slower pace in September than the previous month.

Stocks edged higher Wednesday after a trade group reported that the U.S. service sector continued to grow in September. Private company hiring also increased.

States that borrowed billions from the federal government to keep unemployment benefits flowing through the recession now have to start paying those loans back, and they're hitting businesses with new assessments and higher taxes to make that happen.

President Barack Obama says he expects Congress to vote on jobs legislation this month and plans to press legislative leaders from both parties to act quickly on the $447 billion proposal he delivered three weeks ago.