The rule of thumb is that that a 100,000 number up or down is necessary for a change in the employment number to be meaningful. We did not get it this month with a 20,000 down report. Yes, unemployment moved to 9.7% from 10% but the absolute jobs number is the only thing that counts now in the minds of investors. We did get a revision of overall employment for its annual benchmark by over 900,000 down. This is more pain but something that has already been taken.
Investors are focused on the employment yet this is the one economic number which has shown the poorest rebound relative to other macro numbers. The employment number is a lagging indicator but there has been no real improvement. There has been no job creation for the last decade.
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