The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly report where it reported that 33,000 jobs were lost in the economy. This is the first drop in monthly job growth for the first time in seven years. Economists in a Reuters survey were originally projecting a net gain of approximately 90,000 jobs however this did not materialize. Most economists are not worried though as the losses are attributable to the damage done from Hurricane Harvey and Irma. Most economists still believe that the economy is fundamentally strong. An indication of that is the Unemployment rate is down 4.2% and wage growth was up to 2.9% from this time last year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/business/economy/jobs-report-unemployment.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/06/us-lost-33000-jobs-in-sept-vs-90000-jobs-increase-expected.html
It is interesting to see how much a natural disaster can affect so many things. This being the first time job growth has decreased in 7 years shows the force that the hurricanes had. In the article it says that 105,000 jobs in the food industry were lost due to the hurricane which means that other sectors should have still been going up to for the number to only be 33,000 jobs lost. I think this is a good sign for the economy as a whole that the numbers will get back to where they previously were. I think in the upcoming months their should be a significant gain in number of jobs to make up for this down month.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting article. As mentioned above, it is very prevalent that the hurricane's had a significant negative affect on job growth and economic productivity. A lot of businesses were not able to make new hires and I am sure a lot of them even had to cut back on employment. The positive is that hurricanes aren't, hopefully, a recurring thing in the same place. Therefore, the places hurt by the hurricanes should be able to get their job growth back to normal as those areas start to recover. I also believe that places like Florida and Texas could experience significant job growth in October and November, as there will be high demands for certain jobs like construction, repairing, etc. I would also agree with the notion that the labor market and the economy as a whole is relatively strong. I just think it will take the nation a little while to recover from the natural disasters that have plagued us in September
ReplyDeleteIts amazing to see how hurricanes and natural disasters affect the job numbers. The good news is that the storm effects are likely temporary. Most of the workers kept home by the storms are back on the job now, or will be by the time October’s jobs numbers come out next month.
ReplyDeleteThe hurricane season has taken a direct impact on the economy. Although jobs have declined recently, when the clean up for the hurricanes is over I will expect job growth to rise again. Its very interesting that this is the first time job growth has decreased in the past 7 years.
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