The extraordinarily destructive hurricane season caused
significant job loss in travel and hospitality, according to the U.S. Travel
Association.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that the economy lost
33,000 jobs in September, the first monthly employment decline in seven years. Hurricanes
Harvey, Irma and Maria slammed Texas, Florida and the Caribbean in September.
Of the lost jobs, 19,400 were in leisure and hospitality
(hotels and restaurants), and were predominately based in Florida and Texas. Puerto
Rico employment numbers for September were not available.
U.S. Travel said that many of the hurricane-related job losses
were due to employees being off payrolls or otherwise unable to work during the
storms because they had evacuated or because their establishments were not open
for business due to power failures and other effects of the hurricanes.
The association expects job numbers to rebound in October.
The hurricanes also impacted travel prices, U.S. Travel
said, with hotel and motel prices up by 1.7% and gas prices up 13%.