10:51 AM EDT, 11/01/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US job creation fell well short of Wall Street's estimates in October amid an ongoing Boeing ( BA ) strike and potential hurricane-related disruptions, according to government data released Friday.

Total nonfarm payrolls climbed by 12,000 last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The consensus was for a 100,000 increase, according to a survey compiled by Bloomberg. October's employment gain marked the weakest print since December 2020, Stifel said in a note.

Gains were revised down by 31,000 to 223,000 for September and by 81,000 for August. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1% in October, in line with the market view.

"Between the ongoing Boeing ( BA ) strike and the devastating impacts of (hurricanes) Helene and Milton, we knew this was going to be messy employment report," TD Economics Senior Economist Thomas Feltmate said in a note. "However, given the various factors impacting last month's numbers, it's too early to draw any meaningful conclusions from today's report."

Manufacturing employment fell by 46,000 in October, reflecting a 44,000 slide in transportation equipment manufacturing that was "largely due to strike activity," the BLS said. The goods-producing sector lost 37,000 jobs overall.

Hurricane Helene made landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast late in September, while Milton struck Florida on Oct. 9, which fell during the reference periods for the household and establishment surveys, according to the BLS.

"It is likely that payroll employment estimates in some industries were affected by the hurricanes; however, it is not possible to quantify the net effect on the over-the-month change in national employment, hours, or earnings estimates because the establishment survey is not designed to isolate effects from extreme weather events," according to the BLS report.

Private payrolls fell by 28,000 in October, versus the consensus indicating a 70,000 gain. This was the first drop in private-sector payrolls since December 2020, Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US economist at Oxford Economics, said in emailed remarks to MT Newswires. The service industry added 9,000 jobs, a sharp decline from a 169,000 rise the BLS posted for September.

Average hourly earnings grew by 0.4% sequentially, the BLS report showed, ahead of the 0.3% pace modeled by the Street. The annual measure increased by 4%, meeting market expectations.

The October jobs report "is more relief than alarm" for the Federal Reserve, Jefferies US Economist Thomas Simons said, adding that the central bank is seen delivering a 25-basis-point cut next week and in December. The Fed cut its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points in September.

"The strength of (gross domestic product) and personal income and spending in recent months, as well as the initial read on September payrolls had pushed the market to start pricing in an increased probability of a pause at one of the next two meetings," Simons said. "However, this should give the Fed enough room to continue with the path they laid out in the last (Summary of Economic Projections)."

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