U.S. economy added just 12,000 jobs in October, impacted by hurricanes, Boeing strike

Job creation in October slowed to its weakest pace since late 2020 as the impacts of storms in the Southeast and a significant labor impasse dented the employment picture.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 12,000 for the month, down sharply from September and below the Dow Jones estimate for 100,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. It was the smallest gain since December 2020.

The unemployment rate, however, held at 4.1%, in line with expectations. A broader measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons also was unchanged at 7.7%.

In the report narrative, the BLS noted that the Boeing strike likely subtracted 44,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector, which lost 46,000 positions overall.

Along with that, the report noted the impact of hurricanes Helene and Milton but said "it is not possible to quantify the net effect" of the storms on the jobs total.

Elsewhere, the bureau said average hourly earnings increased 0.4% for the month, slightly higher than the estimate, though the 4% 12-month gain was in line. The average work week held steady at 34.3 hours.

The release comes just days ahead of the presidential election in which Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are in what most polls show to be a deadlocked race. With the economy at the forefront of the battle, the light jobs number "casts a murky shadow heading into next week," said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS.

The weak October report also included substantial downward revisions from previous months. August was cut to just a gain of 78,000 while September's initial estimate came down to 223,000. Together, the net revisions lowered previously reported job creation totals by 112,000.

Health care and government again led job creation, respectively adding 52,000 and 40,000 positions. Several sectors, though, saw job losses.

In addition to the expected pullback in manufacturing, temporary help services saw a drop of 49,000. The category is sometimes seen as a proxy for underlying job strength and has seen a decline of 577,000 since March 2022, the BLS said.

Another leading sector, leisure and hospitality, saw a drop of 4,000, while retail trade and transportation and warehousing also reported modest declines.

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