Manure In A Pile Of Ponies

288k jobs created last month. Good.

Other items also modestly improved: employment population ratio was up 0.1%; average duration of unemployment dropped from 20.1 weeks to 19.7; there were 159k fewer people working part-time for economic reasons. Good.

Now the manure in that pile of ponies (thanks, Commissar): the number of jobs created were fewer than last month, and fewer than the promised 320k/month; hours worked was stagnant; wages barely budged. Not good.

Overall, hopeful signs in this report. I know the wingers will chastise me for my lack of enthusiasm, but these numbers are nothing to crow about, especially after years of promises--for me this is more of the good feeling you get when you stop beating your head against the wall. That said, I'm happy to see positive job growth, and hope to see this trend continue.

ntodd