Unlike Netflix’s cringe-worthy “Fuller House” revival, the February jobs report — released by the BLS this morning — exceeded expectations.
Here are three things to know from today’s report:
1. The economy took a leap forward. The better-than-expected February jobs report points to the U.S. labor market rebounding following last month’s slowdown, as employers added 242,000 jobs (which is nearly 50,000 more than economists were initially predicting). This figure puts the monthlyjob gains average of the past three months at 228,000.
Here are some initial reactions to today’s report from around the Web.
According to USA Today: “…the February jobs report came in stronger than expected, signaling that the economy continues to grow despite slowing growth overseas and early-year financial turbulence.”
According to Forbes: “The latest labor market reckoning out from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday showed stronger than anticipated job growth and signs that discouraged workers are not only jumping back in the game, but also finding work quickly when they do.”
2. We saw some notable revisions. December and January’s numbers were revised up by 9,000 and 21,000 respectively, for a total of 30,000 more jobs than the BLS had initially reported.
3. Where are we with wage growth? The reaction to the latest jobs report has been largely positive; still wages were the weak point. Here are some reactions to the fact that wages still aren’t where they need to be.
According to Marketwatch: “The report showed a drop in hourly wages and in the number of hours worked, which might give the Federal Reserve sufficient cause to hold off on raising rates in this month, after starting to normalize monetary policy back in December.”
According to The New York Times: “Wages fell by 0.1 percent in February, a disappointing showing after the 0.5 percent increase in January, resulting in a 2.2 percent bump in the yearly rise.”