This morning, the Dept. of Labor announced that the U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs last month, beating analysts expectations. The Labor Dept. also revised upwards the numbers for December and January. This is very good news for the economy but especially for those people finding work and for their families.
Some may wonder why the unemployment rate stayed steady at 8.3% if the economy added so many jobs. It is because people who had been so discouraged they had stopped looking for work altogether are not counted as unemployed, so as the economy picks up, more people re-enter the labor market and this can actually make the unemployment rate tick up. But, the bottom line is that for the last three months, the economy has added an average of 245,000 jobs per month, those people can now purchase goods and services which leads to more job growth. Of course, more trouble in the Eurozone, or problems in the Mideast, or if the price of gas continues to increase, all can become a drag on the economy. But, so far, so good.
