Today’s big number is non-farm payrolls. And, thus, the unemployment rate for the previous month. The economists surveyed by Reuters called for 145,000 jobs and an unemployment rate at 7.6 percent.
The numbers came in at 165,000 new jobs and an unemployment rate of 7.5 percent. Pretty close.
These numbers will be parsed thoroughly to discover some message about the future. They will also be spun, excessively, by members of the political class. The White House will declare that another month of job growth is good news. But not, heaven knows, good enough. From the other side, we will hear that the number confirms the administration’s failure to bring the economy back to good health.
This is day-to-day housekeeping and easily ignored. A more troubling and pertinent question might be:
Jill Lawrence at the National Journal asks the question and does not quite answer it, except to get Paul Begala to provide some political context:
And, then, Lawrence explains, something simply must be done about the dreadful Republicans.
James Pethokoukis does his own analysis, off the Lawrence column, and notes this passage from the president’s recent budget proposal:
And, Pethokoukis adds, … if that isn’t bad enough, there are worrisome signs of a productivity slowdown and a less entrepreneurial culture.
So, the answer may be, “Yes. Washington has lost interest.”
Which begs the question: Might that not be good news?
