Despite dysfunction in Washington and a 16-day government shutdown, the economy chugged along in October, surprising many analysts as private sector hiring bounced back after a spring slowdown.

The latest figures, along with upward revisions for job creation in August and September released by the Labor Department on Friday, lifted the estimated monthly pace of hiring to 202,000 over the last three months. If that strength persists, the Federal Reserve will probably feel comfortable enough to begin easing back on its stimulus efforts, economists said, though probably not as early as its next meeting in December.

Over all, experts said the new data showed an economy with more underlying strength than first thought, but not necessarily growing as fast as many policy makers would like.

“Sometimes it’s a little faster, sometimes it’s a little slower,” said Guy Berger, United States economist at RBS. “The labor market is in decent shape, but it’s not doing that much better than six months or a year ago.”