US unemployment claims rise in wake of Hurricane Helen
Fox Business' Lydia Hu has more on the impact of Hurricane Helen's devastation on 'Varney & Co.'
The number of Americans filing for unemployment rose more than expected last week, the highest in 14 months, boosted slightly by the impact of Hurricane Helen.
Economists say Hurricane Milton, which barreled through Florida overnight, will likely have more of an impact on the job market in the short term.
Charlie Harden, with her 1-year-old son Kix and Lori Medlin, stand outside the Sea Hag Marina in Steinhatchee, Florida, after Hurricane Helen passed through on Sept. 27. and business (Ted Richardson/Getty Images/Getty Images for The Washington Post)
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 33,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 258,000 for the week ended Oct. 5, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Inflation rose 2.4% in September, beating expectations
Economists polled by LSEG had forecast 230,000 claims in the latest week. The biggest increases in unpaid claims were in North Carolina and Florida, the two states hardest hit when Helen ravaged large parts of the Southeast in late September. The impact of the storm could skew claims data in the weeks ahead.
Workers at Roy's Restaurant search through the rubble after Hurricane Helen made landfall in Steinhatch, Florida on September 27. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Helen brought devastating floods and storm surges to the Southeast, killing at least 232 people and displacing countless numbers. Moody's RMS Event Response estimates that losses caused by severe storms cost the US private insurance market between $8 billion and $14 billion.
Hurricane Milton disrupts gasoline supply chain
Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank, predicted that unemployment claims would rise further in the coming weeks due to the devastation of Milton.
He noted that traditional economic data on the storm's impact is not yet available, but cited reports that 30% of electric customers in Florida were without power as of Thursday morning — an impact that would likely account for 6% of U.S. GDP because the state accounts for it.
American Red Cross National Spokesperson Nicole Maule details the impact and recovery after Hurricane Milton.
“Employment, retail sales and industrial production generally fall in areas affected by severe weather, then rebound quickly as rebuilding begins,” Adams wrote in a note responding to the jobless claims data.
Get Fox Business on the go by clicking here
“This means it will be difficult to tell whether economic trends are changing in October and November, since monthly changes in upcoming data could be due to storms or changes in the broader economy.”
Eric Revel of Fox Business and Reuters contributed to this report.
About The Author
