In this Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, photo, Phil Wiggett, right, a recruiter with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, looks at a resume during a job fair in San Jose, Calif. On Friday, Oct. 6, 2017,... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, photo, Phil Wiggett, right, a recruiter with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, looks at a resume during a job fair in San Jose, Calif. On Friday, Oct. 6, 2017, the U.S. government issues the September jobs report. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, photo, Phil Wiggett, right, a recruiter with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, looks at a resume during a job fair in San Jose, Calif. On Friday, Oct. 6, 2017, the U.S. government issues the September jobs report. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) (Associated Press) In this Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, photo, Phil Wiggett, right, a recruiter with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, looks at a resume during a job fair in San Jose, Calif. On Friday, Oct. 6, 2017,... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. shed 33,000 jobs in September because of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which closed thousands of businesses in Texas and Florida and forced widespread evacuations. It was the first decline in nearly seven years. 
 
 The unemployment rate fell to 4.2 percent from 4.4 percent, the Labor Department said Friday, the lowest level since February 2001. 
 
 Looking past the hurricanes' impact, the job market and economy generally look healthy. Job growth is likely to rebound in the coming months as businesses in the area reopen and construction companies ramp up repair and renovation work. 
 
 Last month's drop was driven by huge losses in restaurants and bars, which shed 105,000 jobs, a sign of the damage to Florida's tourism industry. 
 
 Roughly 1.5 million people were unable to work last month because of the weather, the government said, the most in 20 years. 
 
 Hourly workers who couldn't work and missed a paycheck were counted as not working, which lowered September's job totals. That's true even if those employees returned to work after the storm passed. 
 
 The unemployment rate fell because it is calculated with a separate survey of households. That survey counted people as employed even if they were temporarily off work because of the storms. 
 
 As a result, the drop in the jobless rate is a sign the job market improved outside hurricane-hit areas. The proportion of adults with jobs rose to 60.4 percent, the highest since January 2009. 
 
 Average hourly wages rose 2.9 percent from a year earlier, a solid gain. But the government said that figure was artificially inflated by the loss of so many lower-paid workers in hurricane-hit areas. 
 
 More than 11 million people had been employed in the 87 counties in Texas and Florida that were declared disaster areas, the government says. That's equal to about 7.7 percent of the nation's workforce. 
 
 Other recent indicators point to a solid economy and job market. 
 
 On Wednesday, a survey of services firms — covering restaurants, construction companies, retail stores, banks and others — found that they expanded in September at their fastest monthly pace since 2005. That followed a survey of manufacturers, which found an equally strong gain. Factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than 13 years. 
 
 There are signs that a rebound from the hurricanes is already boosting the economy. Auto sales, which had been lackluster this year, jumped 6.1 percent to more than 1.5 million in September from a year ago, according to Autodata Corp., as Americans began to replace cars destroyed by the storms. That increase in purchases should soon lead automakers to step up production. 
 
 Harvey caused about $76 billion to $87 billion in economic losses, according to Moody's Analytics, an economic consulting firm. The estimate includes damage to homes and businesses as well as lost business and economic output. That calculation would make Harvey the second-worst U.S. natural disaster, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 
 
 Irma will likely end up having caused $58 billion to $83 billion in economic losses, Moody's forecasts. Maria, which hammered Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, could cost $45 billion to $95 billion, though that is a preliminary estimate. 
 
 ___ 
 
 This story has been corrected to show that September's job losses figure was the first decline in nearly seven years. ||||| The unemployment rate remained at 3.7%, a 49-year low. Hispanic unemployment reached its lowest rate ever, at 4.4%. 
 
 Wages grew 3.1%, relatively robust growth after years of stagnant paychecks. 
 
 The numbers give President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans a positive talking point as they head into the midterm elections next Tuesday, even amidst turmoil on the major stock exchanges over the past few weeks. During a brief appearance before heading to a rally in West Virginia, Trump said the 250,000 figure was "shocking for a lot of people." 
 
 "That was a tremendous number by any standards," Trump said. "And that's despite the hurricanes. I'm sure these hurricanes, they were massive. They had a big impact." 
 
 The Bureau of Labor Statistics said last month that Hurricane Florence may have depressed job growth, but that Hurricane Michael in the Florida panhandle had "no discernible effect." 
 
 Trump, also cheered the report on Twitter Friday morning. 
 
 Wow! The U.S. added 250,000 Jobs in October - and this was despite the hurricanes. Unemployment at 3.7%. Wages UP! These are incredible numbers. Keep it going, Vote Republican! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2018 
 
 "Clearly there's some concern in financial markets, but this report just tells you that the labor market is just shrugging that off for now," said Josh Wright, chief economist for the recruiting platform iCIMS. "Even if some corporations are concerned about the medium-term outlook, in the very near term they're really focused on bringing in fresh talent to capitalize on the economy for as long as it lasts." 
 
 Although voters see the economy as one of the top issues that will determine who they favor for in the midterm elections, according to Pew Research , analyses of past midterms show that partisan views tend to overwhelm the objective performance of the labor market. 
 
 The jobs news will almost certainly overwhelm another piece of economic news released Friday — the trade deficit in goods and services, which widened in September as imports rose more than exports. Year to date, the deficit is now 10.1% larger in 2018 than it was over the same period in 2017. 
 
 The year-over-year percentage growth in average hourly earnings looks slightly larger than it actually is because wages declined last October as low-wage workers returned to their jobs following a particularly strong hurricane season. But economists said it's still encouraging, as the pay increase remains well above the inflation rate, meaning that workers' pay is actually raising their standard of living. 
 
 Some of the strong payrolls growth came from a slight downward revision to September's number, but overall it lifts the average over the past 12 months to 211,000. 
 
 The continued pace of job growth is unusual at this point in an economic recovery, and shows that there are still enough workers coming off the sidelines as opportunities improve to supply at least a portion of businesses' labor needs. The civilian labor force participation rate for workers between ages 25 and 54, which measures the percentage of the population that is working or looking for work, jumped to its highest level since May 2010. 
 
 Most of the net new jobs came from health care, construction, and manufacturing, which has added 296,000 jobs over the past year. Although the purchasing managers index for manufacturing fell in October to the lowest level since April, indicating slowing demand, the employment report is an an indication that tariffs on imported aluminum and steel haven't negatively impacted hiring in factories thus far. 
 
 Retail hiring showed no growth on a seasonally adjusted basis. 
 
 The strong numbers should reassure Federal Reserve officials that they're clear to keep raising interest rates, as they approach the "neutral" rate at which monetary policy is pressing neither the accelerator or the brake on economic growth. 
 
 The question remains, however, whether the Fed will stop there — or keep hiking, in order to cool things down. ||||| An employee works on the production line at the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama facility in Montgomery, Alabama. (Photo by Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg) 
 
 The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July, according to government data released Friday morning, surpassing economists' expectations and suggesting the economy continues to thrive after an extended streak of job gains in recent years. 
 
 The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3 percent, compared with 4.4 percent in June, and wages rose by 2.5 percent from the year before to $26.36 in July. 
 
 “It was pretty solid across the board,” said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JP Morgan. “It suggests there is really no slowing in the momentum of the labor market.” 
 
 [How healthy is Trump’s economy?] 
 
 President Trump greeted the report as evidence of his administration's success, tweeting Friday morning, “Excellent Jobs Numbers just released — and I have only just begun.” 
 
 Yet average monthly jobs gains this year, which are now at 184,000, are basically in line with the average monthly gains of 187,000 in 2016. 
 
 “We’re looking at job growth that was pretty similar to what we were getting a year ago or two years ago. I just don’t think at a business cycle frequency these things respond to political developments,” Feroli said. 
 
 The U.S. labor market has made strong and steady gains in recent months, even as this period of economic expansion has stretched into the third longest in history. That has driven U.S. stock markets to record highs, with the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average closing above 22,000 Wednesday for the first time in history. The Dow opened at 22,058.39 Friday morning, before retreating slightly by mid-day. 
 
 July’s additions also signify a notable turning point for the U.S. economy: After accounting for shifts in population, the level of employment has returned to what it was at in November 2007, before the recession decimated the job market, according to research published Friday morning by the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton project. 
 
 “It does not mean there’s no slack in the economy, [or] that we’re at full employment. But it does mean the job losses from the Great Recession are behind us,” said Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, one of the report’s authors. 
 
 Job gains were broadly spread across many sectors, with health care, restaurants and office jobs recording the strongest increases. 
 
 Low-wage industries like leisure and hospitality grew the fastest in July, a development which may help lower-income Americans get back to work, said Jed Kolko, chief economist at jobs site Indeed. Yet manufacturing hit a new low in July as a share of all U.S. jobs, said Kolko. While manufacturing has been a focus of the Trump administration, the sector continues to shed jobs, due largely to automation. 
 
 Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 180,000 jobs to be added in the month, in line with average monthly gains for the first six months of the year. Government statisticians revised their estimates for May and June, in total adding 2,000 jobs to the rolls. 
 
 America's monthly jobs report can be hard to understand. Here's what you need to know about non-farm payroll employment and the unemployment rate—with gummy bears to help explain. (Kate M. Tobey,Gillian Brockell,Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post) 
 
 The labor force swelled as more Americans found work. The labor force participation rate, the percentage of the population that is either employed or actively seeking work, ticked up to 62.9 percent after dipping in previous months. 
 
 The jobs data is gathered from two separate surveys, one of employers and the other of households. It will be revised twice in subsequent months, sometimes significantly. 
 
 The economy's strength has encouraged the Federal Reserve to continue to gradually raise interest rates to more normal levels, after years of keeping lending easy to stimulate the economy. 
 
 Yet wage growth remains somewhat tepid, a sign that the economy may have farther to go before reaching the point where further expansion merely results in inflationary pressures. As the unemployment rate falls, business owners have to compete more to hire qualified workers, forcing them to raise wages and adding to inflation. 
 
 In a call on Thursday to state their support for Fed Chair Janet L. Yellen and urge Trump to reappoint her when her term expires early next year, members of a coalition called Fed Up argued that the economy’s recovery is not yet complete and that the Fed should maintain low interest rates to allow workers, especially lower-income communities of color, to recover from the financial crisis. 
 
 “We still don’t look like an economy that should still be raising interest rates, and we absolutely should not be raising interest rates in an autopilot kind of way,” said Josh Bivens, director of research at the Economic Policy Institute. 
 
 Futures contracts indicate most investors expect the central bank to hold interest rates steady when it meets in September, instead focusing on a plan to reduce its massive balance sheet. But those contracts put the odds of a rate hike in December at over 40 percent. 
 
 Investors should bet on more rate hikes this year, Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG, said in an email to clients Thursday. “Inflation is coming and the Fed has to push interest rates back to normal levels before inflation gets there.” 
 
 See also: 
 
 U.S. economy rebounds in the second quarter 
 
 Federal Reserve leaves interest rate unchanged, readies markets for balance sheet changes 
 
 Amid resistance, Trump backs away from controversial trade plan
– The new jobs report is a case of good news/bad news. The US lost 33,000 jobs in September after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma hit Texas, Florida, and other Southeastern states, which the AP reports is the first decline in almost seven years. However, the Labor Department says the unemployment rate fell to 4.2% from 4.4%, the lowest level since February 2001. So what's going on? "Friday's report overall sent conflicting signals about the labor market, in part because it's based on separate surveys—one of employers, the other of households—that don’t always align precisely in any given month [but] typically point in the same direction over the longer term," explains the Wall Street Journal. Looking past the hurricanes' impact, the job market and economy generally look healthy, per the AP. Some economists expect job growth to rebound in the coming months as businesses in the area reopen and construction companies ramp up repair and renovation work. "People will write off the weak number because of the hurricanes," one economist tells the New York Times. "The underlying trend is still pretty strong." One good sign was that average hourly earnings, an important barometer, rose nearly 0.5%, though the Journal notes that if the hurricanes temporarily wiped out a lot of minimum wage jobs in the services industry, that would drive the overall number up. Next month will be a truer test.