text: WASHINGTON (AP) — Three days after voters registered their sourness about the U.S. economy, the government said Friday that employers added a solid 214,000 jobs in October, extending the healthiest pace of hiring in eight years. 
   
   In this Oct. 28, 2014 photo, Shantel Howard, 29, of Miami, right, makes an appointment for a job interview with Calvin Klein employee Melina Mikhalices, left, after submitting her resume during a job... (Associated Press) 
   
   The Labor Department also said 31,000 more jobs were added in August and September than it had previously estimated. Employers have now added at least 200,000 jobs for nine straight months, the longest such stretch since 1995. 
   
   The burst of hiring lowered the unemployment rate to 5.8 percent from 5.9 percent. It's lowest rate since July 2008. 
   
   Along with the job gains, economic growth has accelerated this year. Yet despite the improvement, voters identified economic anxiety as their top concern in Tuesday's elections. That suggests the improvement hasn't yet been felt by many Americans. 
   
   Nearly 60 percent of voters said they thought the economy was stagnating or worsening. Only one-third saw it as improving. 
   
   The picture has still improved enough that the Federal Reserve announced last month that it was ending its bond purchase program, which had been intended to lower interest rates and stimulate economic growth. 
   
   At the same time, better hiring and growth have barely boosted paychecks for the vast majority of earners. Adjusted for inflation, average hourly pay rose just 0.3 percent over the 12 months that ended in September, according to government data. 
   
   And what wage gains have occurred have benefited mainly the wealthiest. Average income grew 10 percent from 2010 through 2013 for the wealthiest one-tenth of Americans, after adjusting for inflation, according to the Fed. For everyone else, incomes stagnated or declined. 
   
   Analysts say the economic expansion remains strong enough to support the current pace of hiring. Over the past six months, the economy has grown at a 4.1 percent annual rate. 
   
   U.S. manufacturers are expanding at the fastest pace in three years, according to a survey by the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group. A measure of new orders showed that factory output will likely continue to grow in coming months. A separate survey by the ISM found that retailers, restaurants and other service companies grew at a healthy pace last month. 
   
   Home sales rose in September at their fastest rate this year, a sign that housing could pick up after a sluggish performance for most of this year. 
   
   Still, faltering global growth could create trouble for the U.S. economy in the months ahead. Exports fell in September, the government said this week, widening the trade deficit. That led many economists to shave their predictions of economic growth in the July-September quarter to an annual rate of 3 percent or less, down from the government's initial estimate of 3.5 percent. ||||| Associated Press 
   
   Yes, it was that time again, folks. Jobs Friday, when for one ever-so-brief moment the interests of Wall Street, Washington and Main Street are all aligned on one thing: jobs. 
   
   The economy added 214,000 jobs in October, below the 233,000 estimate that economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.8% from 5.9%. 
   
   Here at MoneyBeat HQ, we crunched the numbers, tracked the markets and compiled the commentary before and after the data crossed the wires. Now that we’re done, feel free to weigh in yourself via the comments section. And while you’re here, why don’t you sign up to follow us on Twitter.
target: – The unemployment rate ticked down from 5.9% to 5.8% last month, its lowest level since July 2008, the AP reports. And 214,000 jobs were added; 233,000 had been expected, per the Wall Street Journal's forecast, with the unemployment rate expected to stick at 5.9%. August and September numbers were also revised upward: August saw 203,000 new jobs added (up from 180,000), and September saw 256,000 (up from 248,000). That means the economy has added 200,000 or more jobs per month for nine consecutive months, the longest stretch since 1995, the AP notes. Even though the new jobs number for October doesn't look great when compared to what was expected, the AP points out that it extends "the healthiest pace of hiring in eight years." And Michael J. Casey at the Journal explains why today's jobs report is actually pretty good news: "Unemployment dropped, including in the U-6 broader measure of joblessness. And it came with a higher participation rate. Along with the upward revision in the September payrolls number, all of this means the net takeaway ain't as bad as the headline jobs number suggests."