Washington — US employment fell in September for the first time in seven years as hurricanes Harvey and Irma left displaced workers temporarily unemployed and delayed hiring, the latest indication that the storms undercut economic activity in the third quarter. The Labor Department said on Friday nonfarm payrolls decreased by 33,000 jobs last month amid a record drop in employment in the leisure and hospitality sector. The drop in payrolls was the first since September 2010. The department said Harvey and Irma, which wreaked havoc in Texas and Florida in late August and early September, had reduced "the estimate of total nonfarm payroll employment for September." Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls increasing by 90,000 jobs last month. The government revised data for August to show 169,000 jobs created that month instead of the previously reported 156,000. Payrolls are calculated from a survey of employers, which treats any worker who was not paid for any part of the ...
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