Jordan Weissmann analyzes the new jobs data:
The U.S. added a solid 175,000 jobs in February, despite the nasty spate of winter weather that some thought would put more of a damper on hiring. But the real relief may be that in spite of that growth, the unemployment rate actually ticked up slightly, to 6.7 percent. Why celebrate a rising jobless rate? Because it gives the Federal Reserve an excuse to lean back and let the economy keep gathering steam without worrying too much about inflation.
Bill McBride, who provides the above chart, zooms out:
This graph shows the job losses from the start of the employment recession, in percentage terms – this time aligned at maximum job losses. At the recent pace of improvement, it appears employment will be back to pre-recession levels mid-year (Of course this doesn’t include population growth).
Kilgore wonders if the weather is depressing jobs numbers:
The bigger picture is that economists are very conflicted about the impact of this winter’s unusually bad weather on the numbers, and what that might mean for the underlying strength or weakness of the economy. So there’s a great deal of anticipation of the March and April jobs reports as perhaps resolving some of those arguments.
Danny Vinik calls it “a fairly strong report, particularly if the weather is holding back the economy”:
More than 600,000 people were unemployed due to the weather, the most since 2010. If the weather really is holding back the economy right now, that makes this report even stronger in comparison.
Ylan Mui downplays the importance of the weather. She claims that “that those 600,000 people are still considered employed”:
The argument here isn’t that this abysmal winter has had no impact on the economy. There are other economic factors, such as housing starts, that are more sensitive to changes in the temperature. But pointing fingers at Old Man Winter for every lousy jobs report is a misreading of the data.
Benen focuses on government jobs:
In a rare occurrence, public-sector layoffs did not drag down the overall employment figures. Though most months in recent years have shown monthly government job losses, in February, the private sector added 162,000 while the public sector added an unusually high 13,000.
Drum’s take:
Bottom line: we continue to plod along. Things could be worse, but they still aren’t very good.
The Dish 