Financial Impact of Hurricane Sandy

The sum total of the devastation Hurricane Sandy brought to the east coast has not even begun to be revealed. Lives have been lost, thousands of homes destroyed, billions of dollars worth of property has been irreparably damaged and power hasn’t even been fully restored. The economic deprivation from the newly homeless and jobless residents may cause economic recovery—not only in the east coast, but nationally—to be farther ahead than we anticipated.

Hurricane Sandy Threatens Economic Recovery

The economic downturn of the past decade has caused the standard of living for many Americans to diminish significantly. Now that small businesses throughout the east coast have been destroyed, it seems as though the small foothold many people were just beginning to have in terms of economic stability has been lost. Not only are many residents out of a job, their possessions are ruined and their homes are uninhabitable. A resident of New Jersey told a reporter with The Huffington Post that not only was her job lost and all her clothes destroyed, but also her identification papers and birth certificate, making it almost impossible to get a new job—should she find one.

Sandy adds to an already high unemployment rate

It is estimated by the Labor Department that the startling rise in unemployment claims came primarily from Mid-Atlantic states, where businesses and homes were flooded by the thousands. People who were managing to eke out a living before the super storm hit are now thrust into total poverty.

For many of these residents, the only glimmer of hope is the possibility that federal clean-up jobs might be available to help stave off some of the hardship. New York received a $27 million grant for storm clean up jobs; New Jersey received $15 million. Unfortunately, these clean up jobs haven’t been well promoted, according to some job-seekers, and the scope of available positions isn’t clear. Some applicants feel that the majority of the clean-up jobs are geared towards male workers.

US factory production in the northeast has been hurt by the storm, too. The downturn in apparel, food and industrial manufacturing comes hand-in-hand with the decline in retail sales. The Federal Reserve also estimated that the hurricane resulted in a drop of production by a full percentage point. While there may be a production spike after companies begin to rebuild, it is generally believed by economists that the disruption in production will likely last throughout the month of November, since the power outages still linger, even into the second half of the month.