This is the slowest pace of hiring in the United States since 2020, but the unemployment rate remained low, as numbers were distorted by hurricanes and a major strike at Boeing.
Hurricanes and the Boeing strike likely drove payrolls lower in October, but the weak employment report keeps officials on track to reduce interest rates by a quarter point next week.
Boeing union workers, in their seventh week of a strike, are seeking higher wages along with the restoration of the company's pension plan, which has been frozen since 2014.
The Republican presidential candidate argued that his policies would result in substantial growth, despite projections that his agenda would fuel inflation and spike the national debt.