How Hurricanes Skewed September’s Job Numbers<br />But don’t read too much into that decline — Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which ravaged Texas and Florida, wreaked havoc on employment.<br />The United States’ nearly seven-year streak of job growth came to an end in September, as employers cut 33,000 jobs.<br />Employment in the leisure and hospitality sector, for example, which includes hotels, restaurants<br />and other weather-dependent businesses, was cut by 111,000 jobs in September.<br />Still, it is nearly certain that, had it not been for the hurricanes, job growth would have been positive for a record 84th consecutive month.<br />Jonathan Wright, an economist affiliated with the Brookings Institution, estimated<br />that Friday’s report would have shown a 67,000 increase in jobs had it not been for the effect of the hurricanes.
