Disaster: The Economy Added Just 12,000 Jobs In October

Employers in the United States added 12,000 workers to their payrolls in October the Department of Labor said Friday, and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1  percent.

Economists had been expecting 110,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent.

The range of expectations was particularly wide this month, with the hurricanes and flooding that hit parts of the country mid-month making it hard to predict how many workers would be added to payrolls nationwide. Estimates in Econoday’s survey ranged from 57,000 too 180,000. Some economists have even forecast a payroll contraction.

“It is likely that payroll employment estimates in some industries were affected by the hurricanes; however, it is not possible to quantify the net effect on
the over-the-month change in national employment, hours, or earnings estimates because the establishment survey is not designed to isolate effects from extreme weather events,” the Labor Department said.

The Labor Department said that the response rate from companies surveyed for the employment reports was unusually low last month, likely due to the hurricanes.

Last month, the Department of Labor said the economy added 254,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate dipped to 4.1 percent. The jobs figure was revised down to 223,000. The August jobs figures were revised down by 81,000 to 78,000. With the revisions, employment is 112,000 lower than previously thought.

Manufacturing employment fell by 46,000 in October. The Labor Department said this was dragged down by a 44,000 jobs loss in transportation equipment manufacturing that was “largely due to strike activity.”

Private sector payrolls fell by 28,000 in October, much worse than the 90,000 job growth that was expected. Government employment grew by 40,000.

On average, the economy has added 194,000 jobs each month over the past 12 months.

The October jobs report is the last piece of major economic data that will be released prior to election day.