How does this chart of the Average Duration of Unemployment look to you? The beard scratchers at the Fed can’t be thrilled about their $85 billion-a-month boondoggle.

The Wall Street Journal details the ugly news:

The U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department said on Friday, much higher than the 120,000 expected by economists. The unemployment rate rose to 7.3%.

The stronger data could heighten the prospect that the U.S. economy may be healthy enough for the Fed to soon begin withdrawing, or “tapering,” stimulus from its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program, which had kept stock and bond prices at elevated levels. Fed officials have signaled that the timing of a pullback in stimulus hinges on the health of the U.S. economy, particularly the labor market.