U.S. job growth nearly halted in October due to strikes in the aerospace sector and the impact of recent hurricanes, leading to difficulties in accurately assessing the labor market ahead of the presidential election. The Labor Department’s employment report revealed a mere addition of 12,000 jobs, the lowest since December 2020, with previous months’ job gains revised down by 112,000.
While the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1%, this stability was attributed to a significant number of people leaving the workforce. Strikes at Boeing and Textron resulted in a loss of 44,000 jobs in manufacturing, while the hurricanes exacerbated the situation, likely eliminating around 115,000 jobs from payroll estimates.
In contrast, the healthcare and government sectors saw employment increases, but manufacturing suffered a drop of 46,000 positions. The average hourly wage did see an uptick of 0.4%, indicating ongoing wage growth amidst these challenges.
Economists predict that the Federal Reserve will likely respond to the cooling labor market with another interest rate cut in the coming weeks
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