WASHINGTON, Nov 2, (AP): America’s employers added just 12,000 jobs in October, a total that economists say was held down by the effects of strikes and hurricanes that left many workers temporarily off payrolls. The report provided a somewhat blurry view of the job market at the end of a presidential race that has pivoted heavily on voters’ feelings about the economy.

Last month’s hiring gain was down significantly from the 223,000 jobs that were added in September. But economists have estimated that Hurricanes Helene and Milton, combined with strikes at Boeing and elsewhere, had the effect of pushing down net job growth by tens of thousands of jobs in October. Friday’s report from the Labor Department also showed that the unemployment rate remained at 4.1% last month.

The low jobless rate suggests that the labor market is still fundamentally healthy, if not as robust as it was early this year. Combined with an inflation rate that has tumbled from its 2022 peak to near pre-pandemic levels, the overall economy appears to be on solid footing on the eve of Election Day. The government did not estimate how many jobs were likely removed temporarily from payrolls last month.

But economists have said they think the storms and strikes caused up to 100,000 jobs to be dropped. Reflecting the impact of the strikes, factories shed 46,000 positions in October. In a cautionary sign for future hiring, though, temporary job placement firms lost 49,000 jobs last month. Companies often take on temporary workers before committing to full-time employees.

On the other hand, healthcare companies added 52,000 jobs in October, and state and local governments tacked on 39,000. The employment report for October also revised down the government's estimate of the job gains in August and September by a combined 112,000, indicating that the labor market wasn't quite as robust then as initially thought.

"The big one-off shocks that struck the economy in October make it impossible to know whether the job market was changing direction in the month,’’ Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank, wrote in a commentary. "But the downward revisions to job growth through September show it was cooling before these shocks struck.’’