WASHINGTON – US job growth slowed drastically in October, hit temporarily by hurricanes and labour strikes, in a final major economic snapshot at the end of a razor-edge presidential election campaign where cost-of-living worries dominated voter concerns.
The world’s biggest economy added 12,000 jobs in October, far below expectations and down from a revised 223,000 in September, said the Department of Labour. In a more positive sign, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 per cent.
The data on hiring and unemployment will be scrutinised by the teams of both presidential candidates – Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump – but employment numbers would have been higher if not for devastating hurricanes and worker strikes.
Unusually weak hiring numbers threaten to affect how Americans view the job market, some analysts warned.
The collective impact of hurricanes Helene and Milton, alongside work stoppages by Boeing workers and others, could cut job growth by up to 100,000 positions, Council of Economic Advisers chairman Jared Bernstein said this week.
But the latest figure was still markedly below a market consensus estimate of 120,000.
This is the slowest rate of hiring since late 2020, and the lowest pace since President Joe Biden took office.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.4 per cent from September, slightly above expectations.
Manufacturing drop
The Labour Department said its survey is “not designed to isolate effects from extreme weather events.” But it added: “It is likely that payroll employment estimates in some industries were affected by the hurricanes.”
The report also said manufacturing employment fell by 46,000 in October, on a 44,000 drop in transportation equipment manufacturing that was largely due to strike activity.
Besides some 33,000 Boeing workers on strike, others doing so included 5,000 machinists at Textron Aviation and 3,400 hotel workers, noted EY senior economist Lydia
