HURRICANES HIT JOBS REPORT

The U.S. economy lost jobs for the first time in years, but the rare decline is almost certainly due to the rash of hurricanes in September and won’t have a lasting impact, experts said.

U.S. employers lost 33,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said yesterday, the first time the economy has seen a monthly decline in jobs in seven years. The repeated hits from hurricanes last month likely kept many out of work while their regions rebuilt, making them without a job in the eyes of the Labor Department.

“We estimate that hurricane-related disruptions were responsible for reducing the change in payroll employment by 249,000 in September,” said Ben Herzon, an economist with IHS Markit.

Others estimated about 150,000 workers were not counted due to hurricanes, but agreed employers would have added jobs last month if not for the storms. More than 11 million people work in the 87 counties that have been declared federal disaster zones, according to the government. The national jobs report doesn’t include Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“No one should interpret these data as signaling a downturn,” said Michael Hicks, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State.

Hicks and others said the pendulum will likely swing the other way when October jobs numbers are released.

Also yesterday, the Labor Department said wages rose by 2.9 percent compared to a year ago, a healthy gain at a time when incomes have been relatively flat. Still, even that boost was influenced by the hurricanes. Many lower-paid workers — including those in the service industry — could not get to work in the wake of the hurricanes, and others including utility workers racked up overtime.

The drops are expected to be largely statistical, and not derail what has been a steady economic expansion.

“Despite the weakness, job gains in recent months and uptrend in wages are good for consumer incomes,” said Wells Fargo economists in a research note.

Hurricane Harvey caused as much as $87 billion in damage, according to Moody’s Analystics, while Hurricane Irma will likely result in $58 billion to $83 billion in damage, Moody’s said.

The devastation in Texas, Florida and other parts of the Gulf Coast is expected to goose the country’s GDP as businesses and homeowners start to rebuild. IHS increased its GDP growth estimate for the third quarter of the year by 0.1 percent, to 2.5 percent.

Stocks closed down a touch yesterday, with the S&P 500 finishing down 0.11 percent. That ended an eight-day streak of positive gains.