US employers added a better-than-expected 166,000 jobs in October, the government said today in a sign that much of the economy is holding firm despite housing and credit woes.
October's job growth caught most Wall Street analysts off guard and was more than double what most economists had anticipated. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.7%, the report said.
Last month's job generation suggests employers are not retrenching dramatically in the face of a widespread housing downturn and a credit squeeze affecting the banking industry.
September's job growth was trimmed to a revised 96,000 posts from an original estimate that 110,000 jobs were created.
