https://abcnews.go.com/Business/jobs-report-set-released-days-election/story?id=115268994
U.S. hiring slowed in October, but fallout from hurricanes and labor strikes likely caused an undercount of the nations workers.
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The hiring in October amounted to a sharp slowdown from 254,000 jobs added in September, though it should be interpreted with a significant dose of caution, experts told ABC News prior to the data release.
Workers who werent paid during the survey period due to work disruptions wont be counted as employed, and workers and businesses may be too busy dealing with the aftermath of the storms to respond to surveys, Martha Gimbel, executive director of the Budget Lab at Yale University and former director of economic research at Indeed, told ABC News in a statement.
Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane on Oct. 9. It ultimately left millions without power and much of the states gas stations without fuel. In late September, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida, prompting recovery efforts that have continued for weeks afterward.
Additionally, roughly 33,000 Boeing workers walked off the job in mid-September, an action that's expected to manifest as missing jobs for the first time on the October report.
In all, the combination of hurricanes and work stoppages is estimated to have pushed the level of hiring 50,000 jobs lower than where it otherwise would have stood, Bank of America Global Research said in a note to clients this week.
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