October jobs report shows slowest growth in 4 years in shock data days before presidential election

“This jobs report is a catastrophe and definitively shows how seriously Kamala Harris has destroyed our economy,” Donald Trump’s campaign said in a statement.

“In one month, Kamala’s failed economic agenda destroyed nearly 30,000 private sector jobs and nearly 50,000 manufacturing jobs,” said Karoline Leavitt, the Trump Campaign’s national press secretary.

“Working families are being ripped off by Harris-Biden’s economic agenda. Kamala broke the economy. President Trump will fix it.”

“Despite the weak news, today’s report should not raise alarm bells for job seekers, workers or policymakers – especially if the impact of the hurricane and strike proves temporary,” said Cory Stahle, economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab.

He said it would be a real concern if future reports were similarly weak, with limited job growth and continued downward revisions to previous data.

“But for now, a soft landing is still on the table, although this will require stronger job growth and steady unemployment in the coming months,” he added.

“For policymakers, this report is unlikely to change plans too much, but we can probably expect more rate cuts and support for the labor market on the horizon.”

After the data released Friday, average job growth over the past three months fell to 104,000.

According to the Ministry of Labor, this is a decrease from 189,000 in the previous six months.

Despite everything, the numbers still point to a “fundamentally slowing labor market,” said Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Asset Management. The New York Times.

The figures come with less than a week until the presidential election – with the economy at the forefront of voters’ minds.

The weak jobs number for October “casts a dark shadow heading into next week,” said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS. CNBC.

The report is the last major piece of economic data to be released ahead of the election.

October’s weak jobs report also included downward revisions to previous months’ data.

Job growth in August was reduced to 78,000, while the number fell to 223,000 in September.

Together, the revisions have reduced the total number of jobs by 112,000.

Wall Street largely ignored the pre-bell numbers as stock market futures rose.

“Markets are rightly avoiding an overreaction,” Kyle Chapman, an analyst at Ballinger Group, told The New York Times.

The lower-than-expected employment data raised expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates again at its next meeting next week.

Investors now see a greater than 99 percent chance of a 25 basis point cut, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, Boeing’s strike likely eliminated 44,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector, which lost a total of 46,000 jobs.

Some 33,000 union members have gone on strike since September 13, dealing a damaging blow to the aerospace manufacturer.

It also noted that the devastating hurricanes Helene and Milton, which hit large parts of the country last month, would have had an effect on employment figures.

However, it said that “it is not possible to quantify the net effect” of the storms on total jobs.