Luke Vargas

The U.S.

military says it killed eight people in a further round of strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Eastern Pacific.

Southern Command said the vessels were in international waters, with the attacks targeting people it described as narco-terrorists.

While the administration treats suspected smuggling boats as legal military targets, critics say the alleged criminals aren't in an armed conflict with the U.S., making strikes on them illegal and a possible war crime.

Well, some of the fog hanging over the U.S.

labor market will lift slightly today with the release of two months of delayed jobs data at 8.30 a.m.

Eastern.

But it's not a complete picture.

As for the first time in nearly 80 years, the October unemployment rate is missing.

Nevertheless, journal economics reporter Chow Dang says the dual jobs report should help to clarify whether the labor market is patchy and cooling, as private indicators suggest.

And for more coverage on today's jobs data, head to WSJ.com.

In other markets news, Canada is giving the OK for mining companies Tech Resources and Anglo American to merge.

The new company, called Anglo Tech, would be one of the world's largest copper producers and could help to enhance Canada's processing of critical minerals.

PayPal wants to form a bank.

The digital payments company, which also owns Venmo, has applied to establish a Utah-chartered industrial loan company, enabling it to offer business loans and savings accounts and reduce its reliance on third parties.

The application comes as payments companies, crypto and buy-now-pay-later platforms have made moves to operate more like banks and big financial institutions.

And Argentina's central bank will soon allow the peso to trade within expanded bands, while still stopping short of letting it float freely like the U.S.

dollar and other currencies.

The move comes in response to investors who've demanded President Javier Millet's government correct an overvalued currency.

The central bank also said it planned to boost its foreign currency reserves.