If the Federal Reserve Board’s monetary policy gurus hoped that Friday’s jobs report would give them solid guidance as to how to set future monetary policy they were sorely disappointed. The jobs situation neither deteriorated sufficiently to justify another round of easing, nor improved sufficiently to allow the monetary policy committee to back off its statement that it “will closely monitor incoming information … and will provide additional accommodation as needed.” The information being monitored will not be restricted to the U.S.: The Fed is keeping a wary eye on the deteriorating situation in Europe, especially on European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, who after promising to do “all that it takes” to save the euro, last week reverted to eurospeak, announcing he will use the next months to “design the appropriate modalities” for future policy. Not quite the same as “doing whatever it takes.”

The U.S. economy did record 163,000 new jobs in July, 172,000 in the private sector, offset by a few losses in the public sector. The unemployment rate ticked up from 8.2 percent in June to 8.3 percent in July (half that for those with a bachelor’s degree and higher), making it 42 months above 8 percent. Over 5 million of the 12.8 million unemployed have been out of work for more than 27 weeks, making it possible that their skills have deteriorated or even become obsolete, as employer complaints about their inability to find qualified employees suggest. Worse still, 23.5 million workers, 15 percent of the nation’s total, are unable to find full-time work or are too discouraged to continue the job hunt. This is quite simply the worst three-year recovery in the post-war period.