Hiring slowed in October as the US work force struggled to find footholds in manufacturing jobs instead of its now depleted standbys of financial and real estate payrolls.

The US jobless rate also inched lower to 9.0 percent from 9.1 percent, the Labor Department reported yesterday.

Payrolls added 80,000 jobs in October, fewer than the 95,000 economists has expected. However, the number of jobs created in September and August were revised upward by a total of 102,000.

Factory payrolls in October rose by 5,000, the first increase in three months, and retailers added 17,800 workers, the most in three months.

“The economy slowly is shifting from being centered on finance and real estate to the production of real goods — high tech, low tech, and energy,” said senior economist Steve Blitz at ITG Investment Research.

Average hourly earnings inched 0.2 percent higher to $23.19, while the workweek remained steady at 34.3 hours, the government report said.