Storms May Have Cut U.S. Hiring in Half Before Jobs Bounce Back

While the U.S. job market’s solid run in 2017 was probably curbed last month by forces most economists couldn’t predict, any weakness is likely to be short-lived.

The effects of two major hurricanes that inflicted potentially $90 billion in economic losses are expected to show up in September employment figures due Friday. In late August, Harvey knocked almost a quarter of U.S. oil-refining capacity offline and caused widespread flooding throughout the Houston region. Two weeks later, Irma cut power to at least 6.4 million customers and paralyzed tanker traffic. Both storms displaced tens of thousands and disrupted businesses in areas with 11 million workers as of March.