With 17,000 new hires, construction jobs accounted for nearly 10 percent of all American added workers in the month of October. The total is the most since January of this year for the industry, according to Businessweek.

The site reports that the latest figures from Washington show 171,000 new hires in Ocotber, exceeding expectations and marking a large gain over the 148,000 jobs added in September. A Bloomberg survey had a median projection of only 125,000 added jobs in October.

Despite the added jobs, unemployment rose to 7.9 percent. But that’s not necessarily all bad news. Because the U.S. Labor Department counts only those who are employed or are looking for a job as being part of the American workforce, the uptick signals more folks actively seeking employment that weren’t before. Which means prospects for actually find that job are improving.

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