Hurricanes Hurt Job Creation in 3Q

Third-quarter job creation was severely affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in the South Central and South East regions, according to third-quarter employment data by state released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday.

Economy.com summarized it as follows: “Job growth is slowing but wage growth is heating up across much of the country, and the September regional and state employment figures reinforce this contention. Compared with August, fewer states reported that nonfarm employment rose and more reported that it fell. More states also reported lower unemployment, which is what one would see if more parts of the country were at or approaching full employment. In September, the largest job gains were in California, Washington and Indiana. The biggest decline was in Florida, related to Hurricane Irma. North Dakota had the lowest jobless rate, followed by Colorado and Hawaii. The rates in Idaho and Tennessee set new series lows. Alaska had the highest unemployment rate.”