Friday, February 06, 2009

Today's Job Numbers   [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

Not cheery Friday news, of course. Brian Wesbury analyses for NRO:

There is nothing good about losing 600,000 jobs in one month.  However, employment is a lagging indicator and the economy will turn up before the employment data show it.  So, yes the economy was weak last year and early this year, but that does not mean that the economy will not get better in the spring, which is my forecast.  The economy will turn the corner in the next few months.

The weather has been absolutely awful in much of the country in Dec and Jan.  Record cold and snow.  This has an impact.  I am not saying that we are not in recession, but the weather has knocked things down to lower levels of activity than otherwise would have been the case.

Also, average hourly earnings are up 3.9% from a year ago, and after adjustment for inflation the spending power of the American worker is no less today than it was last January.  Once again, people have lost jobs, but the rise in hourly earning and the drop in oil prices has offset the loss in wages from lost jobs.

02/06 09:43 AMShare