The U.S. added 12,000 jobs and the jobless rate stayed flat at 4.1 percent in October, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department, upending a string of strong economic data leading into Election Day.
The sharp decline in job gains was caused in part by “severe damage” from the hurricanes and their timing, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said.
Hurricane Helene made landfall shortly before the BLS began surveying households and businesses for the jobs report, and Hurricane Milton hit Florida amid the survey period.
The BLS said it was unable to calculate how many jobs the hurricanes and strikes took away from total October jobs gains.
“Trying to understand October’s labor situation from this jobs report, distorted by two major hurricanes and a major strike, is like trying to get directions from the GPS on a smashed cell phone,” wrote Robert Frick, chief corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, in a Friday analysis.
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
