Gapen said that Sandy will likely pose a modest drag on the fourth quarter on the order of about 0.2-0.3 percentage points, with negative effects in October and early November partially offset by a rebound later in the quarter.
As the final estimate of the costs from hurricane Sandy will not be known for some time, a reasonable starting point is to understand how damages are calculated, Barclays Capital economists led by Michael Gapen wrote in a research note on Friday.