America should confirm its position as the world’s lonely locomotive with a solid employment report today. Economists think that 235,000 jobs were created in October, in line with the average of the past six months (though the notoriously volatile report has often disappointed optimists), and that unemployment held steady at 5.9%, a six-year low. Take particular note if hourly wages grow at a faster annual rate than 2%, their sickly pace since 2009, as other wage indicators have already done. That would confirm that the labour market really is tightening. It would also give the Federal Reserve more reason to ignore the bad news emanating from Europe, Japan and elsewhere—and stay on track to raise interest rates from zero in mid-2015.