October 2024 jobs report: How two major hurricanes, labor strike might affect the numbers
The United States added just 12,000 jobs last month, a figure economists say was impacted by two hurricanes and a strike.
The United States added just 12,000 jobs last month, a figure economists say was impacted by two hurricanes and a strike. Yet, even with those caveats, the report pointed to a cooling labor market.
The latest payrolls figure marked the fewest monthly job gains since December 2020, during the depths of the Covid pandemic, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics saying the U.S. effectively added no new net payrolls last month. Analysts had expected to see 110,000 jobs added in October.
There were some bright spots: The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1%, still historically low. And average hourly earnings are up 4% over the past 12 months, well ahead of inflation, which has effectively returned to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
But the previous two months' job figures were revised lower by a combined 112,000. Monthly revisions result from additional reports from businesses and government agencies and from the recalculation of seasonal factors, though the BLS said data-gathering difficulties amid hurricanes Helene and Milton may have affected its tallies. The agency blamed labor actions for a decline of 46,000 in manufacturing employment, referring to the ongoing Boeing strike.
Boeing union workers in Seattle rally during the ongoing strike at the plane manufacturer Oct. 15.Jason Redmond / AFP - Getty Images“Beyond the noise of the temporary factors, there are further signals that the job market is cooling further,” Bankrate Senior Economic Analyst Mark Hamrick said in a statement Friday.
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