The last time the unemployment rate was running this low was in early 2008. But by Election Day that year, the economy was in sad shape and getting worse by every measure. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were vanishing, housing prices were plunging, paychecks were shrinking and credit was tight.

On Friday, in the last economic snapshot before voters go to the polls, the government reported that the jobless rate fell to 4.9 percent in October, matching the level in February 2008. Today, though, most economic bellwethers are showing improvement. Particularly encouraging was the fact that hourly wages rose 2.8 percent compared with a year ago, the best gain in more than seven years.

The economy’s escalator may be slower and narrower than Americans expect, but it is now going up instead of down.

“The economy set three postrecession records this month,” said Jed Kolko, chief economist at the online jobs website Indeed, citing solid wage growth, a drop in the number of discouraged and underemployed workers, and a return of prime-age men and women to the labor force. “These are all signs that the labor market continues to strengthen and is at its strongest point since the crisis,” he said.