Jobs Numbers and Initial Claims: Second Shortest Recovery on Record?

On Friday morning the Labor Department announced its initial results of the Household and Employer surveys. Friday’s figures, of course, followed Thursday’s weekly release of the initial and continuing unemployment figures.

What kind of picture can we draw of the labor market?

Regarding overall employment, the employer survey came in at a seasonally adjusted month over month growth of 114K, a decrease of 28K from the growth seen in the prior month.  Although the growth rate in employment was positive, the larger concern among analysts is that of deceleration, or, in other words, slowing...