Hurricane triggers first wave of American jobless claims

WASHINGTON— An estimated 10,000 workers who lost their jobs because of Hurricane Katrina filed for unemployment benefits last week, the first wave of what likely will be hundreds of thousands of displaced workers seeking benefits. The U. S. labor department said yesterday that the 10,000 figure was an estimate of the number of disaster- related claims based on spot checks with claims offices in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and neighbouring states such as Texas, which have agreed to accept benefit applications from workers who have relocated from the hurricane areas.

Overall, a total of 319,000 newly laid-off workers filed for claims last week, a slight drop of 1,000 from the previous week.

However, department analysts cautioned that that the big- picture figure would have been higher except for the fact that many claims offices in the path of the hurricane were shut down. They predicted the number of disaster-related claims will rise sharply in coming weeks.

Economists agreed with that assessment and said that last week’s total is likely to be revised higher once the government collects more complete data on benefit filings last week.

“ We know that a flood of Katrinaclaims is coming,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital. “The magnitude and the timing are uncertain but the figures will clearly be boosted sharply very soon.”

Meanwhile, the Bush administration announced that it was dispatching three cabinet members and the head of the Social Security Administration to the Gulf Coast today to get the word out about government benefits storm victims can receive. The Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday forecast a total of 400,000 lost jobs in coming months as a result of what is expected to be the costliest natural disaster in U. S. history. That would mean that the 600,000 to 800,000 payroll jobs that the economy was expected to create from September through December will be cut by half or more. Economists will be closely watching the department’s weekly jobless claims report for any signs that Katrina’s impact could become more serious.

MARIO VILLAFUERTE/BLOOMBERG PHOTO Two evacuees of Hurricane Katrina speak with a representative from Goodwill Industries, back to camera, at a job fair this week in Shreveport, La. for victims of the storm. Dozens of local employers met with hundreds of evacuees who were interested in finding work.