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U.S. Economy Added Just 12,000 Jobs in October
November 1, 2024
U.S. job creation slowed to its lowest pace in nearly four years in October as the impacts of major storms in the southeast and labor disruptions weighed on the employment market.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by just 12,000 last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s down significantly from the month prior and well below the 100,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones had expected. It marks to slowest month for job creation since December 2020.
The unemployment rate held steady, however, at 4.1%, in line with expectations. A broader measure of unemployment that tracks discouraged job seekers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons also held steady at 7.7%.
The markets largely shrugged off the report and analysts feel that the month’s numbers are attributable to temporary external events rather than a dramatic downturn in the job market.
The BLS report noted that the Boeing strike was a major disruption, subtracting an estimated 44,000 jobs from the manufacturing sector, which lost 46,000 positions overall. Likely even more disruptive were hurricanes Helene and Milton, though the BLS report noted that “it is not possible to quantify the net effect” of the storms.
Still, the October report continued a potentially troubling trend of substantial downward revisions to previous months’ totals. August’s gain was cut to just 78,000, while September’s was cut to 223,000. All told, the net revisions amounted to 112,000 fewer jobs being created than previously reported.
