Impact of Employment Data

The recent employment report revealed a significant slowdown in job creation, with only 12,000 jobs added in October, falling far short of the 100,000 consensus forecast. Notably, September's job numbers were also revised downwards, indicating a total negative revision of 112,000 over two months. The unchanged unemployment rate, which rounds to 4.1%, masks the reality that a category of workers unable to work due to bad weather surged to 512,000, much higher than the typical 55,000 average for October. This suggests that external factors, particularly hurricanes, have distorted the employment figures, complicating the Federal Reserve's decision-making process moving forward as they grapple with these unusual data trends.