Newcastle's shambolic defending was again exposed in the 38th minute when a clearance from Howard was misjudged by both Fabio Coloccini and Tim Krul, and Lukaku took a single touch inside the opposition six-yard box before slamming home into an empty net from close range.
When Newcastle came out looking to make amends after the break Yoan Gouffran, probably the Magpies' best player in the first half, beat Howard with a chip after 47 minutes but saw his effort come back out off the post.
Four minutes later Yohan Cabaye, on as a half-time substitute, did give Newcastle a glimmer of hope with an excellent shot from 20 yards out that left Howard with no chance.
Everton asserted their dominance again as the half wore on and an increasingly tired looking Lukaku had a number of chances to complete his hat-trick.
Loic Remy grabbed a scrappy late goal in the 89th minute to make Everton sweat and give the scoreline a more respectable feeling than the visitors deserved.
Indeed, Newcastle could have grabbed a point when Remy blazed over with injury time almost up but it wasn't enough to stop the Toffees coming away with the points and leaving Chelsea fans to question the decision to let the impressive Lukaku go out on loan for the second successive season with the Belgian looking every bit a hitman of the highest quality.
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