There is little doubt that Hurricane Harvey caused widespread damage to Southeast Texas. Preliminary estimates note that Harvey will be one of the costliest U.S. hurricanes (ahead of Sandy, and behind Katrina).

That’s the bad news. The good news is that the storm’s negative impact on employment and business activity is expected to be temporary, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in a recent report. The Dallas Fed’s 2017 job growth forecast continues to be 2.6%.

The reason for the optimism? Previous storms. Though weather events pounding the Texas Gulf Coast haven’t been as extreme as Harvey, the Fed pointed out that temporary declines are typically followed by employment resuming its normal growth path. One potential problem, however – labor shortages in construction as the Gulf Coast repairs and rebuilds.

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