U.S. employment growth slowed sharply in October, temporarily hit by hurricanes and labor strikes; It marked the latest major economic upset in an extremely sharp presidential election campaign in which cost-of-living concerns have dominated voters’ concerns.

The world’s largest economy added just 12,000 jobs last month, well below expectations and lower than the 223,000 revised in September, the Labor Department said. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1 percent.

Hiring and unemployment data will be reviewed by the teams of both presidential candidates (Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump), but employment numbers would be higher if not for devastating hurricanes and worker strikes.

Some analysts have warned that unusually weak hiring numbers threaten to impact Americans’ view of the job market.

Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jared Bernstein previously said the collective impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, as well as work stoppages caused by Boeing workers and others, could reduce job growth by up to 100,000 positions.

But the final figure was still well below the market consensus estimate of 120,000.

This is the slowest hiring rate since the end of 2020 and the inauguration of President Joe Biden.

Biden also highlighted a new contract offer for striking Boeing workers on Friday, saying, “Job growth is expected to rebound in November as our hurricane recovery and rebuilding efforts continue.” he said.

But Trump called the report a “huge embarrassment” and blamed Harris for job declines in the manufacturing sector, which, however, were heavily impacted by strike activity.

Average hourly earnings increased 0.4 percent from September, slightly above expectations.

The Labor Department said its survey was “not designed to isolate the effects of extreme weather events.”

But he added: “Payroll employment estimates in some industries are likely to have been impacted by hurricanes.”

The report also stated that employment in the manufacturing industry decreased by 46,000, while transportation equipment manufacturing decreased by 44,000, largely due to strike activity.

EY senior economist Lydia Boussour noted that in addition to the approximately 33,000 Boeing workers on strike, 5,000 machinists and 3,400 hotel workers at Textron Aviation are also on strike.

Boussour added that workers who are on strike for the entire reference pay period in the workforce survey that follows hiring are not considered employed.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Helene made landfall in late September; This means that some people will probably not be able to return to work while the investigation is carried out.

Similarly, the survey week coincided with the landfall of Hurricane Milton.

Economists Carl Weinberg and Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Economics suggested treating the hiring component of the report as an “unreliable indicator” of the true state of the market.

The weaker headline hiring figure “will probably weigh on how people view economic conditions,” Farooqi told AFP.

More generally, “households are still not feeling the benefits of a strong labor market,” he added, pointing to cumulative inflation.

But economist Harry Holzer, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, thinks the public was already expecting lower numbers this time.

A sharp slowdown would be a bigger problem when temporary factors are taken into account.

“Rising incomes are keeping consumers’ wallets open. Any disruption to this could indicate that the economy’s growth engine is beginning to falter,” said nationwide economist Oren Klachkin. he said.

“The labor market is cooling, but I wouldn’t call it cold,” he said.

Economist Samuel Tombs of Pantheon Macroeconomics warned that strikes and hurricanes could only partially explain the weakness.

He said payrolls and transportation equipment manufacturing, with the exception of temporary assistance or entertainment and hospitality (which are often hit hard by hurricanes), saw only half the average increase over the previous 12 months.

He said there was no impact on the unemployment rate because people who were on strike or unable to work due to weather conditions were still counted as employed.

But Mike Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, added that the survey that followed showed a 368,000-person decline in employment.

While there have been no major layoffs, there has been a continued decline in job openings, the official added.

Analysts expect the Fed to cut interest rates by a quarter point next week rather than cut rates at all.

“Fed officials will probably examine the noisy payroll numbers,” Boussour said.