Getting survey information in after the hurricanes was harder than usual; however, it’s become increasingly difficult over the years.

Employers added just 12,000 jobs in October as hiring slowed substantially. The total was expected to be constrained by two Southeast hurricanes and several worker strikes, but the tally was far lower than what was estimated and job gains for previous months were revised sharply downward, raising concerns about a weakening labor market.

Storms and strikes are complicating the true picture of the labor market, economists say. Nonetheless, there’s still evidence of a gradual cooling.

Between back-to-back hurricanes and tens of thousands of Boeing workers on strike, economists had low expectations for the October jobs report released Friday. The data failed to meet even those diminished expectations by a wide margin,

Employers added just 12,000 jobs in October — far slower growth than expected — for the lowest job total since December 2020 as devastating hurricanes and a major strike by Boeing employees crushed jobs,