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The White House has downplayed October’s job growth, attributing the slowdown to temporary disruptions from recent hurricanes and labor strikes.

What’s the deal: According to the Labor Department, the U.S. added just 12,000 jobs in October, a sharp slowdown compared to previous months, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%. This marked a notable change from a period of strong job growth earlier in the year.

The jobs report came as major disruptions like the strike of over 30,000 Boeing machinists and damage from hurricanes impacted southeastern states. Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed these events had an actual impact, quantifying each factor’s precise effect on job numbers remains challenging.

What the White House is saying: During an interview on CNBC, Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jared Bernstein said, “We know that there were two powerful forces leading to negative and temporary impacts on payroll growth. Those were, of course, the hurricanes that really hit the southeastern United States, wide swaths therein, and the strikes. And if you account for those factors, the underlying pace of payroll job growth is still healthy, probably in the 150,000 range. That’s enough to keep the unemployment rate steady.”