US adds only 12,000 jobs in final report before election, as hurricanes and strike bite

The US added only 12,000 jobs last month, less than a tenth of the number economists had forecast, a figure affected by the strike at Boeing and two hurricanes, in a final snapshot of the employment market before the country chooses a new president.

- Michael Sainato

The closely watched jobs report is the last piece of important data before next week's presidential vote on the economy, which is the top issue for voters according to most polls.

Economists had expected the temporary impact of Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton and the strike by 33,000 Boeing workers in the Pacific Northwest to reduce job growth numbers last month. But the number of jobs created was far lower than an estimate of payrolls rising by 113,000.

The US jobs market has been cooling after years of robust growth. October's figure was the weakest since December 2020.

Donald Trump's campaign seized on the weak growth figures. "This jobs report is a catastrophe and definitively reveals how badly Kamala Harris broke our economy," the Republican presidential campaign said in a statement.