U.S. job growth was halted in part by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in September. The U.S. lost 33,000 jobs as the unemployment rate fell to a 16-year low of 4.2 percent. The jobs loss was the first monthly decline in seven years, when the economy was still pulling out of the Great Recession. Wall Street economists had expected very modest employment gains of 80,000, according to Bloomberg.