White House blames jobs reports on hurricanes and labor strikes

The White House on Friday blamed the stall in job growth in October on the hurricanes and labor strikes in recent weeks.

The U.S. added 12,000 jobs and the jobless rate stayed flat at 4.1 percent in October, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department. That stall upends a string of strong economic data leading into Election Day.

Economists had been bracing for a drop in job gains in October, citing the ongoing walkout of more than 30,000 Boeing machinists and...