(search ) on the U.S. labor market in September will end Friday with the release of the first maj... Market Fears Huge Septembe

(search ) on the U.S. labor market in September will end Friday with the release of the first major government report covering the aftermath of the devastating storm.

Economists surveyed by Reuters estimate 129,000 jobs were lost last month as Katrina-related layoffs offset gains in the rest of the country, but the range of forecasts from the 37 analysts was huge: from a loss of 25,000 to 400,000 jobs.

"Hurricane Katrina has turned forecasting September's payrolls into little more than a game of pin the tail on the donkey," said Capital Economics economist Paul Ashworth. The complications of the September jobs report are myriad, and analysts say even Friday's report from the (search ), due at 8:30 a.m. EDT, will offer only a rough guess of the storm's true impact.

Normally, the (search ) contacts 400,000 work sites to determine how many jobs were added or lost each month, and, separately, 60,000 households to calculate the jobless rate. The two surveys are taken in the week or so around the 12th of the month.

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