Reply #57: U.S. August job growth solid, but pre-Katrina [View All]

[UpInArms]

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=economicNews&storyID=2005-09-02T130715Z_01_N02526545_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-WRAPUP-1.XML

excerpt:

Hurricane Katrina did not impact the August job count, since it crossed Florida and slammed into the Gulf Coast after the government had surveyed employers. But economist expect it to hurt payroll employment this month.

Overall, however, analysts believe the storm, which killed an untold number of people and left thousands more homeless, will prove only a temporary set-back to the $12 trillion U.S. economy.

The decline in the unemployment rate came as a separate survey of households also found job creation robust. Analysts had expected the jobless rate to hold steady at 5.0 percent.

Last month's 4.9 percent reading was the lowest since before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and offered a reminder that labor-market conditions had been improving before Katrina struck. The unemployment rate has fallen one-half percentage point since February.

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