WASHINGTON (AP) -- It turns out Superstorm Sandy didn't have as much of an impact on the employment picture last month as economists had expected.

The government says the storm played only a minimal role, as the economy added 146,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent. Hiring remained steady during the storm.

Still, there were signs that the storm disrupted economic activity. Construction employment dropped 20,000. And weather prevented 369,000 people from getting to work. They were still counted as employed.

The government also says there were fewer jobs added in the previous two months than it had estimated earlier.

The unemployment rate fell from 7.9 percent in October mostly because more people stopped looking for work and weren't counted as unemployed.

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