Stocks held near record highs in early trading Wednesday amid excitement over Twitter's market debut and after U.S. economic growth accelerated in the third quarter to the fastest pace in a year.

Labor unions have spent months complaining the new law will drive up the costs of certain health plans that are jointly administered by unions and smaller employers.

The GAO recommends that the secretaries of Labor and Treasury work together to come up with clear and consistent requirements for default electronic delivery of pension-related disclosures.

The ugly figures will reflect the government's partial shutdown, which coincided with 16 days in October. The trends for the job market will likely reverse themselves in coming months.