The October jobs report showed employers added 165,000 jobs, and consumer prices rose at a slower monthly pace. Over the past year, the monthly payment on a median-priced home has climbed about three times as fast as average pay.
The gain topped the average monthly increase of 48,000 over the prior 12 months, and the unemployment rate held at 4.1 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Nov. 6. The rate has remained within a narrow band of 4.1% to 4.3% since March, according to the BLS. The bureau also revised August and September up by a combined 84,000 jobs. Average hourly earnings for private-sector workers rose 14 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $38, a 3.1 percent gain over the year.
At October’s national median existing-home price of $416,700, a buyer putting 20 percent down would pay about $2,243 a month in principal and interest at this week’s average 30-year fixed rate of 7.11 percent, according to an Inman calculation. The same loan at the year-earlier rate of 6.24 percent would cost about $2,050. The difference is about $192 a month, or about 9 percent, while average hourly earnings rose 3.1 percent.
The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent in October on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 0.6 percent in September, BLS reported Nov. 10. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, rose 0.3 percent, as did shelter.
The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.75 percent to 4 percent on Oct. 28 in a 10-2 vote, with Gov. Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack favoring a quarter-point hike, according to the Fed’s statement. “But inflation is too high,” Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said in his press conference opening statement. The Fed meets again in December.
Real wages
Adjusted for inflation, average hourly earnings were unchanged from September to October, according to the BLS Real Earnings report. BLS said a 12-month comparison for October is not available because BLS did not collect October 2025 prices during the federal government shutdown. Real average hourly earnings fell 0.7 percent from September 2025 to September 2026, according to the agency’s September report.
The number of people working part time for economic reasons rose by 339,000 to 4.8 million in October, according to BLS. These workers wanted full-time jobs but had their hours cut or could not find full-time work.
Housing costs
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.11 percent for the week ending Nov. 12, up from 6.24 percent a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac.
Existing-home sales fell 5.5 percent from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.75 million in October, down 8.8 percent from a year earlier and the lowest pace since August 2010, Inman reported. Annual sales fell in all four regions, and the Northeast was the only region with a monthly decline.
The median price rose 0.4 percent to $416,700, according to the National Association of Realtors. NAR’s affordability index fell to 100.7 from 107.3 a year earlier, and inventory reached 5.1 months of supply, up from 4.4 months in October 2025.
Forty-three percent of builders cut prices in October, the highest share NAHB has reported since 2020, and 65 percent used sales incentives, according to the National Association of Home Builders. NAHB’s builder confidence index fell three points to 29, its lowest reading since June 2012.
The October data overall shows an economy adding jobs at more than three times its 12-month average pace, while rates and prices keep pressure on buyer budgets. Agents can work from monthly payment figures and available concessions as tools to help keep transactions moving while the Fed weighs its December decision.
By the numbers
- 165,000:Jobs added in October, compared with an average monthly gain of 48,000 over the prior 12 months
- 4.1 percent: Unemployment rate, which held steady month over month
- $38.00: Average hourly earnings, up 3.1 percent from a year earlier
- 0.4 percent: Monthly CPI increase in October, down from 0.6 percent in September
- 3.7 percent: Annual CPI increase through September; shelter rose 3.2 percent
- 0.7 percent: Decline in real average hourly earnings from September 2025 to September 2026
- 4.8 million: People working part time for economic reasons, up 339,000
- 7.11 percent: Average 30-year fixed mortgage rate for the week ending Nov. 12, up from 6.24 percent a year earlier
- $416,700: Median existing-home price in October, up 0.4 percent
- $192: Increase in the monthly principal and interest payment on a median-priced home at today’s price, compared with last year’s rate, according to an Inman calculation
- 3.75 million: Annual pace of existing-home sales, the lowest since August 2010 and down 8.8 percent from a year earlier
- 43 percent: Share of builders that cut prices in October
