U.S. loses 33,000 jobs after hurricanes slam Texas, Florida – By CBS/ AP (cbs news) / Oct 6 2017
Businesses lost 33,000 jobs in September, the Labor Department said Friday, due largely to effects from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
It’s the first monthly job loss in six years in an economy that has added a monthly average of 172,000 jobs this year. Economists had been expecting about 80,000 jobs to be added.
The unemployment rate dropped to 4.2 percent, from 4.4 percent the month before.
The two storms inflicted heavy damage in Texas, Florida and other parts of the Southeast. Thousands of businesses had to shut their doors, leaving many people temporarily out of work and causing slower job growth in some industries.
Food services and drinking places were largely responsible for the drop, losing 105,000 jobs in September as many workers were off payrolls thanks to the hurricanes. Health care added 23,000 jobs, similar to its monthly average this year. Professional and business services added a below-trend 13,000 jobs.
If the hiring report in October or November rebounds, economists and the Federal Reserve may find it hard to assess the state of the economy with any precision over the next couple of months. Even so, most Fed watchers expect the central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate when it meets in December.
And there are signs that a rebound from the hurricanes is already boosting the economy. Auto sales, which had been lackluster this year, jumped 6.1 percent to more than 1.5 million in September from a year ago, according to Autodata Corp., as Americans began to replace cars destroyed by the storms. That increase in purchases should soon lead automakers to step up production.
Harvey caused about $76 billion to $87 billion in economic losses, according to Moody’s Analytics, an economic consulting firm. The estimate includes damage to homes and businesses as well as lost business and economic output. That calculation would make Harvey the second-worst U.S. natural disaster, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Irma will likely end up having caused $58 billion to $83 billion in economic losses, Moody’s forecasts. Maria, which hammered Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, could cost $45 billion to $95 billion, though that is a preliminary estimate
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-hiring-report-33000-jobs-lost-after-hurricanes-slam-texas-florida/
PB/TK – I can’t wait for the spin machine with these numbers.. Hey look auto sales jumped (thanks to cars needing replaced after 2 major hurricanes rolled thru 6 States).
Hey look consumer spending jumped (thanks to many homeowners who now have to replace virtually everything thanks to 2 major hurricanes as well as spending millions to send little timmy/suzie off to school)
Hey look rate dropped from 4.4 to 4.2 (of that how many dropped out of Unemployment due to loss of benefit, wasn’t that part of the argument about the last Administration)
