Final Jobs Report Before Election To Be Released

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans on Friday will get their last major look at the state of the U.S. economy — the October jobs report — just four days before Election Day. The view, though, is likely to be obscured by the effects of strikes and hurricanes that left many workers temporarily off payrolls. The government is expected to report that employers added just under 118,000 jobs last month, which would be a decent if hardly spectacular gain. But it would mark a sharp drop from the unexpectedly strong 254,000 jobs the economy added in September. Economists have cautioned, though, that Hurricanes Helene and Milton, combined with ongoing strikes, including at Boeing, had the effect of pushing down net job growth in October.