WASHINGTON, Nov 2: US employment growth accelerated in October as 166,000 new jobs were created, the government said on Friday in a report that suggested the economy is weathering housing and credit woes.

October’s non-farm payroll growth was the strongest since May. The reading caught economists off guard as it was more than double the 80,000 new jobs expected by Wall Street.

The national unemployment rate held firm at 4.7 per cent, according to the Labour Department’s monthly snapshot.

The improved job picture suggests employers are not retrenching in the face of a widespread housing downturn and a credit squeeze that is sweeping the financial industry.

“What a report. It’s fantastic. It looks great and the question is why, because aren’t we supposed to be on the verge of a recession given the housing crash and the potential credit crunch,” said Ian Morris, an economist at HSBC North America.

Job growth, one of the best indicators of economic momentum, was trimmed to a revised 96,000 posts in September from an original estimate that 110,000 jobs were generated.—AFP