When economic forecasts prove wrong, it is customary to blame the weather. So cold that consumers stayed home, or so hot that consumers, well, stayed home. So cold that outdoor construction was unexpectedly low, unless of course unusually high temperatures made such work impossible lest heat stroke afflict the workers. In short, weather is the straw at which sinking forecasters often grasp.

This time they might, but only might, be right to blame the weather for some unexpectedly unpleasant news. America’s huddled masses in the Midwest and the East find themselves buried in snow. So economists might have reason to use the language of weather forecasters to describe the economy that only a few weeks ago they said was heating up. Severe headwinds. Rapid cooling. But keep in mind that the survey underlying the jobs data was conducted during a rather mild week, when there was no unusual spurt in workers having difficulty getting to work. Which is why, Jason Furman, chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, says that January weather did not have a significant impact on the jobs creation.