• The number of nonfarm U.S. jobs rose by 161,000 in October, versus consensus expectations for a gain of 175,000 jobs according to the  Bureau of Labor Statistics’ October jobs report. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 percent.
• Residential construction employment was up by 6.7 percent in October from a year ago, to approximately 737,600 jobs nationwide — the highest level since November 2008.
• Data from August and September was revised sharply upward, by a total of 44,000 jobs over both months. Over the past three months, job gains have averaged 176,000 per month.

The U.S. economy kept chugging along in October and employers kept hiring at a steady clip, even in the face of Hurricane Matthew, which likely impacted hiring activity. The number of jobs created last month didn’t quite meet expectations, but combined with data from August and September that was revised strongly upward, there’s a good amount to be encouraged by in today’s report. Most notably for the housing market, residential construction employment registered one of the strongest months of job gains in the past decade and now stands at its highest level since November 2008, welcome news for a housing market struggling to add enough new inventory to keep up with strong housing demand. Additionally, wages continued to grow, and are up 2.8 percent from a year ago. This is especially important, as the nation’s most expensive housing markets are home to a growing share of the nation’s jobs. In order for housing to remain affordable in these areas, wages need to grow alongside housing costs.