US employers added just 12,000 jobs last month as hurricanes and strikes sharply reduce payrolls

WASHINGTON — America’s employers added just 12,000 jobs in October, a total that economists declare was held down by the effects of strikes and hurricanes that left many workers temporarily off payrolls. The update provided a somewhat blurry view of the job economy at the complete of a presidential race that has pivoted heavily on voters’ feelings about the economy.

Last month’s hiring earnings was down significantly from the 223,000 jobs that were added in September. But economists have estimated that Hurricanes Helene and Milton, combined with strikes at Boeing and elsewhere, had the result of pushing down net job growth by tens of thousands of jobs in October.

Friday’s update from the Labor Department also showed that the unemployment rate remained at 4.1% last month. The low jobless rate suggests that the labor economy is still fundamentally well, if not as robust as it was early this year. Combined with an expense boost rate that has tumbled from its 2022 peak to near pre-pandemic levels, the overall economy appears to be on solid footing on the eve of Election Day.

The government did not approximate how many jobs were likely removed temporarily from payrolls last month. But economists have said they ponder the storms and strikes caused up to 100,000 jobs to be dropped. Reflecting the impact of the strikes, factories shed 46,000 positions in October.

In a cautionary sign for upcoming hiring, though, temporary job placement firms lost 49,000 jobs last month. Companies often receive on temporary workers before committing to packed-period employees. On the other hand, healthcare companies added 52,000 jobs in October, and state and local governments tacked on 39,000.

The employment update for October also revised down the government’s approximate of the job gains in August and September by a combined 112,000, indicating that the labor economy wasn’t quite as robust then as initially thought.

“The large one-off shocks that struck the economy in October make it unfeasible to recognize whether the job economy was changing path in the month,’’ statement Adams, chief economist at Comerica financial institution, wrote in a commentary. “But the downward revisions to job growth through September display it was cooling before these shocks struck.’’

Still, economists have noted that the United States has the strongest of the globe’s most advanced economies, one that has proved surprisingly durable despite the pressure of high earnings rates. This week, for example, the government estimated that the economy expanded at a well 2.8% annual rate last quarter, with customer spending helping drive growth.

Yet as voters choose between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, large numbers of Americans have said they are unhappy with the state of the economy. Despite the plummeting of expense boost, many people are exasperated by high prices, which surged during the recovery from the pandemic downturn and remain about 20% higher on average than they were before expense boost began accelerating in early 2021.

With expense boost having significantly cooled, the Fed is set to cut its standard earnings rate next week for a second period and likely again in December. The Fed’s 11 rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 managed to assist leisurely expense boost without tipping the economy into a downturn. A series of Fed rate cuts should navigator, over period, to lower borrowing rates for consumers and businesses.

In the meantime, there have been signs of a slowdown in the job economy. This week, the Labor Department reported that employers posted 7.4 million job openings in September. Though that is still more than employers posted on the eve of the 2020 pandemic, it amounted to the fewest openings since January 2021.

And 3.1 million Americans quit their jobs in September, the fewest in more than four years. A drop in quits tends to indicate that more workers are losing confidence in their ability to land a better job elsewhere.

Even so, with the unemployment rate and the number of people seeking unemployment aid each week still uncommonly low, Americans as a whole continue to enjoy unusual job safety

“The cooling of the jobs economy is still ongoing,’’ said Sarah House, elder economist at Wells Fargo. “Overall, the jobs economy — it’s not falling apart, but it’s too early to declare that conditions have stabilized.’’

For employers, a softer job economy is easing the labor shortages that left many of them struggling to discover and keep workers over the history few years.

Jon Abt, co-president of Abt Electronics in Chicago, said it has become somewhat easier to hire, and his corporation has felt less pressure to raise wages this year. Still, finding qualified installers and service technicians remains a test.

The electronics retailer, which employs 1,750, including 200 part-timers, runs its own training program, works with trade schools to discover workers and also receives applicants by referral. If the job economy deteriorates further, Abt said, “it will be easier to discover standard people we are looking for.”

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AP Retail Writer Anne D’Innocenzio in recent York contributed to this update.