NYT/AP: Hurricane Katrina to Increase Joblessness

[DeepModem Mom]

Hurricane Katrina to Increase Joblessness
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 7, 2005
Filed at 9:35 a.m. ET


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hurricane Katrina will reduce employment by 400,000 people in coming months while trimming economic growth by as much as a full percentage point in the second half of this year, according to a Congressional Budget Office assessment obtained by The Associated Press.

The CBO report said that Katrina's impact was likely to be ''significant but not overwhelming'' to the overall U.S. economy, especially if energy production along the Gulf Coast returns to pre-hurricane levels quickly.

''Last week, it appeared that larger economic impacts might occur, but despite continued uncertainty, progress in opening refineries and restarting pipelines now makes those larger impacts less likely,'' CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin said in a letter to congressional leaders.

The CBO assessment was in line with the predicted impact of Katrina being made by many private forecasters, who have also cautioned that the effects could be much worse if rising energy prices cause consumers to cut back on their spending.

The CBO report said that it expected economic growth in the second half of the year would be reduced by between 0.5 percentage point and 1 percentage point. It put total job losses at around 400,000....


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Katrina-Economy-HK3.html

[displacedtexan]

1. Well, that's certainly News From The Land Of DUH.

It took the AP this long to figure it out?

[Theres-a]

2. That's impossible

I heard on the news that the economy is doing great.:sarcasm:

[tom_paine]

3. Yeah, Busheviks say unemployment down to 4.9%

In other news:

Brezhnev says Toilet Paper production up 600%

Hitler says "only a few thousand criminals" have been executed at the concentration camps.

Same thing.

[UpInArms]

4. related: Grassley deviates from script

U.S. Senator to look at extending jobless benefits

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-09-07T140721Z_01_WAT003827_RTRIDST_0_KATRINA-JOBLESS-URGENT.XML

WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley said on Wednesday that lawmakers will need to examine whether U.S. jobless benefits, normally a 26-week program, should be extended after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

"We've got to make sure the unemployment program has enough flexibility in it to make sure the people that apply for it are going to get the benefits, and I suppose at some point look and see if there needs to be any extension," Grassley told other

<snip>

Lawmakers would also examine whether Congress should "waive and modify programs for Medicare, Medicaid," Grassley said, adding: "We're looking at setting up a welfare contingency fund." He gave no details.

...more at link...