Defensive end Adrian Clayborn #94 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers takes the field carrying the American Flag for play against the San Francisco 49ers December 15, 2013 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The 49ers won 33 - 14 Al Messerschmidt/Getty The US economy added 161,000 jobs in October, fewer than expected, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The final jobs report released Friday, right before the November 8 presidential election, showed that the unemployment rate returned to 4.9%. It rose to 5% in September as more people without work started looking again.

Wages grew at the fastest pace since the financial crisis. Average hourly earnings rose 2.8% year-on-year, the fastest growth since 2009, and 0.4% month-on-month (0.3% forecast).

As both presidential candidates make their final pitches to voters, they can each pick data points in this report to advance their narratives.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, can point to the number of jobs that have been created during the recovery, the record 73 straight months of gains, and the drop in the unemployment rate to a postrecession low. Meanwhile, Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, can focus on the headline print that missed expectations and the 5.9 million people who still work part-time for economic reasons.

Economists had forecast another report that was neither super impressive nor terrible, and that's what we got. The miss in the number of jobs added was offset by the upward revision to September's print, by 35,000, and by the jump in wage growth to a postrecession high.