The economy added 214,000 jobs last months, slightly below expectations, but August and September were revised upwards by a total of 31,000. Over the last six months new jobs have averaged 235,000 a month, which is better than it’s been in some time.

The unemployment rate dropped a notch, to 5.8 percent, the best since 2008, and, for once, the participation rate went up a notch as well, to 62.8 percent. In other words, more people joined the labor force last month than left it. But we have a long way to go to get back to normal. The rate was 66 percent before the financial crisis of 2008.

Wages remain sticky. The average private-sector wage in October was up three cents to $24.57. That’s 2 percent higher than the average wage a year ago. But inflation was 1.7 percent in that time.

So the economy continues it slow recovery. There is not the slightest hint of “irrational exuberance,” except, perhaps, in the stock market, whose rise has been driven not by a good economy, but by recovering profits and very low interest rates. The latter makes bonds and CD’s unattractive alternatives to equities.