Reuters
Katrina could cost 400,000 jobs -CBO
Wed Sep 7, 2005
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&summit=FundsSummit05&storyid=2005-09-07T152746Z_01_MCC751881_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-KATRINA-ECONOMY-DC.XML
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Katrina could cost as many as 400,000 U.S.
jobs and slash economic growth by up to 1 percentage point, the Congressional
Budget Office said on Wednesday.
While acknowledging estimates of the impact of Katrina are "fraught with
uncertainty," CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin said the "evidence to date
suggests that overall economic effects will be significant but not
overwhelming."
In a preliminary report to lawmakers, the CBO said Katrina could dampen real
gross domestic product growth in the second half of the year by one-half to 1
percentage point.
It said the storm could reduce employment through the end of this year by about
400,000. Employment for September will decline significantly -- from an
estimated 150,000 to 500,000 -- as a direct consequence of the hurricane, the
budget office said.
"Employment will increase in subsequent months, as workers return home and
businesses reopen and as reconstruction activity gathers steam," CBO said.
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