You could almost feel the tension in the digital universe this morning, prior to 8:30 EST, at which time the Bureau or Labor Statistics would be releasing the employment number for April. The suspense—oh, the excruciating suspense! Would the number for new hires match expectations? Would the overall number of unemployed drift downward again toward what has lately become the magic threshold number of 8.0 percent? Would the White House find, in the numbers, another ball to spike? Would the twitterverse move on from its obsession with the perils of Julia? 

Would someone give us all a break?