Wall Street opens lower after Sept jobs fell by 33,000 due to hurricanes

Wall Street opened lower on Friday after a report showed U.S. employment fell in September for the first time in seven years as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma left displaced workers temporarily unemployed and delayed hiring.

The Labor Department's closely watched employment report showed nonfarm payrolls decreased by 33,000 jobs last month, the latest indication that the storms undercut economic activity in the third quarter. Economists polled by Reuters had expected jobs to rise by 90,000.
One bright spot was the better-than-expected rise in average wages, up 0.5 percent, compared with estimates of a 0.3 percent increase.

"In any normal month, this print would have sent tremors across global markets, but September was no normal month," said Marcus Bullus, trading director at MB Capital.

"Traders were pricing in a weak print given the severe disruption caused by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and even though it came in far worse than expected, the markets will go into the weekend feeling there is no reason to panic."
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