In the month of September, the U.S. economy lost 33,000 jobs, largely as a result of hurricanes that decimated Texas and Florida. That is the first monthly decline in employment in the last seven years.
"The numbers were certainly blown around a lot by the storms," Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist for Northern Trust, told the New York Times. "The interruptions created in the hurricane regions were seen in leisure and hospitality especially, which had a huge decline."
The unemployment rate did see a drop, however, and now sits at 4.2 percent, down from 4.4 percent in August. The damages from the September hurricanes are not expected to have a long term impact on the economy, the Times reported.
Despite Hurricane Maria devastating the island of Puerto Rico in September "the survey of employers that the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses to calculate monthly payroll gains does not include the island," the Times reported.
But if you asked President Donald Trump how things are going, he would likely tell you that everything is perfectly fine.
"Stock Market hits an ALL-TIME high! Unemployment lowest in 16 years!" Trump tweeted on Thursday morning. The president is typically granted a sneak peek at the monthly job report.
Stock Market hits an ALL-TIME high! Unemployment lowest in 16 years! Business and manufacturing enthusiasm at highest level in decades!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2017
On Friday he also retweeted Fox Business which highlighted stock market gains since Trump took office.
#StockAlert: U.S. markets since the election pic.twitter.com/1kwamJuizO
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) October 5, 2017
Last month, the president congratulated himself on the positive jobs report about 15 minutes before its official release, an apparent violation of a federal rule.
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