U.S. hiring slowed in October, but the aftermath of hurricanes and labor strikes likely caused an undercount of the nation’s workers.

A new jobs report marked the last bit of major economic data before Election Day. However, the data provide little more than a blurry snapshot of the U.S. economy due to last month’s one-off disruptions.

Employers added 12,000 workers last month, below economists’ expectations of 90,000 additional jobs, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics DATA Friday showed. The unemployment rate stands at 4.1%, which is in line with the previous month and remains historically low.

October’s hiring represented a sharp slowdown from the 254,000 jobs added in September, though it should be interpreted with a significant amount of caution, experts told ABC News before the data was released.

“Workers who were not paid during the survey period due to work stoppages will not be considered employees, and workers and businesses may be too busy dealing with the aftermath of the storms to respond to surveys,” Budget Executive Director Martha Gimbel Lab at Yale University and former director of economic research at Indeed, told ABC News in a statement.

Hurricane Milton it made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane on October 9. Ultimately, it left millions without power and many of the state’s gas stations without fuel. At the end of September, Hurricane Helene arrived in Florida, prompting recovery efforts that continued for several weeks afterward.

In addition, approximately 33,000 Boeing workers he left work in mid-September, a move expected to show up as missing jobs for the first time in the October report.

In all, the combination of hurricanes and layoffs is estimated to have pushed the employment level 50,000 jobs below what it would have been otherwise, Bank of America Global Research said in a note to customers this week.

“That probably weighed on payroll overall, particularly on leisure and hospitality,” said Bank of America Global Research, pointing to Hurricane Milton. “Also, there was probably a small loss from Helene,” the bank added.

Despite a general slowdown this year, the labor market has proved resilient. Hiring continued at a solid pace; meanwhile, the unemployment rate has risen but remains near its lowest level in 50 years.

The latest jobs data came at the end of a week in which new releases showed the economy growing at a robust pace while inflation returned to normal levels.

US GDP grew at an annualized rate of 2.8% in the three months to September, US Bureau of Economic Analysis data from Wednesday showed. That figure fell slightly below economists’ expectations, but showed brisk growth that was propelled by resilient consumer spending.

On Thursday, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge showed that prices rose 2.1% in the year to September. Inflation has slowed dramatically from a peak of around 9% in 2022, although it remains slightly higher than the Fed’s 2% target.

The jobs report is scheduled to arrive four days ahead Choice Day. It also marks the last bit of significant economic data before the Fed announces its next interest rate decision on November 7.

According to the Fed, it is expected to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point CME FedWatch toola measure of market sentiment.