FINANCIAL TIMES: Snow and statistical revisions left economic policymakers struggling to judge the health of the US labour market after a confusing January jobs report.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the US economy created 36,000 jobs last month – far below expectations of 146,000 – but the unemployment rate plunged from 9.4 to 9 per cent…
“On balance, we’d take it as a positive – although with some caution,” said David Semmens, US economist at Standard Chartered in New York. “The labour market as a whole is definitely looking better.” But Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities in New York, said that “even if we allow for an upward revision of many standard deviations”, 36,000 “is still not a strong number”… (more)
EDITOR’S NOTE: The article is disappointing. It takes over a hundred thousand new jobs a month just to keep up with population growth. Furthermore, a drop in unemployment may represent long term unemployed dropping out of the labor market. At best, the figures are ambivalent.
