Kudlow: Hurricanes could cost 60k jobs in October employment report

President Trump’s top economic adviser said Thursday that White House economists expect devastating hurricanes to dampen the monthly federal jobs report to be released Friday.

National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said Thursday that the White House Council of Economic Advisers has analyzed the impact of October hurricanes on U.S. employment, and that he expects the storms to cost the country 60,000 jobs.

“The CEA — Council of Economic Advisers — has taken a look at the hurricanes and we may see a 60,000 drop from the hurricanes. May. This is just a suggestion, this is very inexact,” Kudlow said Thursday on Fox Business Network.

Kudlow said that while he’s anticipating a 60,000-job hit from the hurricane, the actual loss could be anywhere from 30,000 to 90,000 jobs.

“We have to be careful here and recognize that probably, probably, you’re going to get some noise from the hurricane.”

Economists and analysts expect destruction and power outages from Hurricane Michael to shave tens of thousands of jobs off of the October employment report. Natural disasters typically lead to sharp one-time drops in payrolls that tend to rebound after clean-up and recovery efforts.

Private sector forecasters expect the economy to have added between 175,000 and 190,000 jobs in October, though the ADP national employment report released Wednesday showed businesses adding 227,000 jobs in October.

Kudlow did not specifically cite CEA as his source for the hurricane impact, but appeared to suggest it came from internal White House analysis. Federal jobs data is shared with the White House in advance of the report’s release through secured communication lines and closely guarded by top administration officials.

President Trump stoked controversy in June when he touted the monthly federal jobs report roughly an hour before the data was released, a breach with decades of protocol that could lead to accusations he was sending a signal to traders.