We Won’t See These Labor Market Figures for Another Year, So Enjoy It

The market, in Christmas-jubilee fashion, responded positively to today’s employment report.  The seasonally adjusted bottom line figure reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics came in up 203K. The 203K in net new jobs equates to a year over year growth rate of +1.7%, well ahead of population growth of about 0.8%.

In addition to the expectation-beating employment figure, one other figure pointed to an economy apparently accelerating.  That data point – the unemployment rate.  The unemployment rate was reported at an even 7%, about 0.2% below economists’ expectation.