That’s pretty impressive after Sandy.

The private sector added 118,000 jobs in November, payroll processing firm ADP reported today. The figure is the firm’s lowest estimate since August and comes in nearly 40,000 below October’s 157,000, as well as slightly below consensus estimates of around 125,000. The low November figure portends that Friday’s jobs report from the Labor Department will come in well below October’s 171,000 mark.

Still, the jobs situation is likely not as gloomy as it might appear from this report. That’s because factors outside of broader job market supply and demand pulled November’s jobs figure in different directions.

“The number would have been over 200,000 if not for the impact of [Hurricane Sandy], which was evident across a wide array of industries,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, which coproduces the report with ADP, in a call with reporters Wednesday. At the same time, he says, an earlier-than-usual Thanksgiving pulled more holiday shopping into November, bumping the jobs figure slightly higher.