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US Jobs Dropped By 33,000 In September, Likely Due To Storms (npr.org)

An anonymous reader shares an NPR report: The U.S. economy shed 33,000 jobs in September, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while unemployment fell to 4.2 percent. The September payrolls drop broke a nearly 7-year streak of continuous job gains. But economists caution that the drop is likely representing the short-term consequences of bad weather, not a long-term shift in the job market. Before this report, the economy had added an average of about 175,000 jobs per month; the unemployment rate has been at 4.3 or 4.4 percent since April. Job growth in September was expected to be lower than usual because of the effects of several devastating hurricanes. Economists did not generally predict an actual decline, but a not-so-stellar report was widely anticipated.

4 of 128 comments (clear)

  1. Re:...and in a month or two... by Solandri · · Score: 1, Informative

    Broken window fallacy. If there hadn't been any storms, the money those places will now have to spend on repairs would've been spent on other business instead. So that construction boom comes at the cost of other business jobs. i.e. There's no net increase in number of jobs, it's just that money has been siphoned away from other jobs to pay for construction jobs.

    Also see opportunity cost. Like most people, you are incorrectly calculating opportunity cost by comparing to a vacuum (construction repair jobs vs nothing). A correct analysis compares the benefits of construction vs what was given up to pay for that construction.

  2. Re:...and in a month or two... by wiggles · · Score: 3, Informative

    fallacy fallacy fallacy.

    Fatcats don't hoard money - they invest it, creating further economic activity. The money doesn't leave the economy unless somebody sinks it into gold, art, or real estate.

  3. still waiting by micahraleigh · · Score: 1, Informative

    Still waiting for slashdot to post an article about the growth rate surpassing 3% as described in that nasty conservative rag USA Today:
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/09/28/u-s-economic-growth-revised-up-3-1-rate-q-2/711674001/
    That 3.1% growth was higher than anything under Obama, as confirmed by far, alt-right Nazi organization politifact:
    http://www.politifact.com/illi...

    Oh snap, they're MSM and left wing hacks respectively

  4. Re:...and in a month or two... by Penguinisto · · Score: 4, Informative

    I never stated that hurricanes were good for the economy, nor did I recommend destruction in order to stimulate said economy. I merely stated that a frigton of temporary jobs would come of it, and why.

    QED: I posted no fallacy here.

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?