U.S. employment growth slowed significantly in October due to economic turmoil caused by hurricanes and strikes.
Employers added 12,000 jobs last month, far fewer than the 223,000 jobs created in September, according to the Labor Department.
However, while employment slowed, the unemployment rate stabilized at 4.1%.
The eye-catching numbers showing the strength of the U.S. economy will be the last to be released before Americans head to the polls on Tuesday to elect their next president.
The Labor Department said health care and government roles continued to increase last month, but new manufacturing jobs fell due to the strike.
Approximately 30,000 employees at aerospace giant Boeing have been on strike since September 13, leading to a significant slowdown in aircraft production. Workers at Textron, another aircraft company, are also taking industrial action.
Manufacturing employment fell by 46,000 jobs in October, which the ministry said reflected “a 44,000-job decline in transportation equipment manufacturing, primarily due to strike activity.”
In other major industries, employment saw little or no change over the month.
The employment increase of 12,000 people is significantly lower than expected. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted that employment would rise by 113,000.
However, the striking workers were not included in last month’s employment figures, which contributed to the decline in overall non-farm payrolls.
Brian Coulton, chief economist at Fitch Ratings, said: “At face value, the 12,000 increase is clearly a weak number, but it follows a very strong increase in September and is likely due to strikes and possibly hurricanes.” I was influenced by it.”
Hurricane Helen hit the southeastern United States in late September, followed by Hurricane Milton a week later in Florida. A total of 512,000 people said they were unable to go to work due to abnormal weather.
Despite the stronger-than-expected economic slowdown, hopes remain that the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, will cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points next week.
“The market is likely to shelve the October jobs report,” Seema Shah said. “It’s clear that the hurricanes have hit the numbers hard and clouded the overall picture of labor market strength, so the Fed’s “It should not affect the path of policy interest rates.” , Chief Global Strategist at Principal Asset Management.
Lindsey Rozner of Goldman Sachs Asset Management added: “The numbers are rough, but the 25 basis point cut in November is a relief.”
The Labor Department said the lower-than-expected job additions were likely influenced by the hurricanes because the study was not intended to “isolate the effects of extreme weather events,” and the impact could not be fully quantified. He added that it is difficult to adapt.
Job growth has also slowed over the past year, and the unemployment rate, although at historically low levels, has risen slightly. Average hourly wages have increased by 4% over the past 12 months.
Last month, the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.5 percentage point, a larger than normal rate, hoping to avoid further deterioration in the labor market.
