Hurricane hit: U.S. lost 33,000 jobs in September

The jobless rate dropped to 4.2%, the lowest since 2001.

Economists had been expecting an increase of 90,000 jobs, even after accounting for the hurricanes. But the economists and Labor Department expect the decline to be short-lived as employers closed by the storm in Houston and Florida are able to reopen.

There could even be an increase in jobs in coming months due to the storms as homes and other buildings are repaired or rebuilt, and Americans buy cars and other items to replace those that were lost.

The drop in jobs reported in September could even disappear in future revisions of the estimate as the Labor Department is able to collect information from businesses that it was unable to contact due to the storm.

Hurricane Harvey came ashore on the Texas Gulf Coast on Aug. 25, too late to show up in the August jobs reading. But many businesses were still closed by the flooding that accompanied the storm when the Labor Department started to survey employers in the middle of September.

Hurricane Irma hit the Florida Keys on Sunday, Sept. 10, then moved up the state in the following days, shutting down many employers, including both businesses, schools and government offices, during the week that employment is measured.

Related: Finding a contractor will be tough for Harvey and Irma victims

The biggest hit to jobs came from a drop of 105,000 at restaurants and bars. The Labor Department said that decline is very likely related to the storms. The sector had been adding about 24,000 jobs a month before the storm.

The drop in the unemployment rate was a surprise to economists and was not related to the hurricane. Instead it came from a jump in the number of workers telling the Labor Department they had found work, and a drop in those who were without a job. The unemployment rate is now considered close to what economists consider to be full employment.

Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, did not affect this report. That storm hit after Labor Department completed surveys of businesses for September. Second, these national jobs numbers do not include those islands, even though the Labor Department does track hiring and job losses there.