U.S. to Adjust Job Count Because of Hurricane

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said it would change the way it estimates employment in September because of the devastation of workplaces and dislocation of employees caused by Hurricane Katrina.

The survey, which will assume no jobs remain at work sites that could not be contacted during the bureau’s survey of employers, probably will overestimate job losses in September, making the economic effect of Katrina look even worse than first thought.

The agency also said it would drop unreachable households from a separate survey used to calculate the jobless rate and make no attempt to interview people staying in emergency shelters -- in effect ignoring thousands of people who probably are unemployed.