Katrina’s impact on employment varies

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics on Oct. 7 released its monthly employment report, announcing a decrease in nonfarm employment of 35,000 jobs month-to-month. In the past year, employment increased by an average of 194,000 per month and the unemployment rate dropped from 5.4 percent to 4.9 percent.

Leisure and hospitality jobs decreased by 80,000 in September, due in part to Katrina. Retail trade employment also experienced a decline by 88,000 jobs, and food and beverage stores were down by 30,000.

Food services and drinking places were down by 54,000 jobs, and amusement, gambling and recreation establishments fell by 19,000.

Katrina had a positive effect on employment, however, in the professional and business services sector, which was up by 52,000 in September. A large gain in temporary help services – up by 32,000 – was partly due to the hiring of workers to assist in post-hurricane recovery.

Katrina’s timing and subsequent limitations of data collection prevented the bureau from providing a detailed report of its effect on national employment in September, said Philip L. Rones, deputy commissioner for the bureau, in a news release.

“We cannot quantify precisely the overall effects of the disaster and its aftermath on the September employment and unemployment figures,” he said. “We will know more about the hurricane’s impact when local employment estimates become available later this month.”

Construction and health care increased by 23,000 and 37,000 jobs, respectively. Manufacturing was down by 27,000, reflecting a strike in the aerospace industry that pulled about 18,000 workers off payrolls.[[In-content Ad]]