Employment Report
The monthly employment report is very important. The creation of new jobs tells us how the economy is currently performing and how it will be performing in the upcoming future. When a significant number of jobs are created, people spend more money, which In turn creates more jobs. March’s employment report was even more important than usual. The creation of approximately 300,000 jobs per month the last few months indicates the economy is doing much better. A strong March report could influence the Federal Reserve to begin to raise short term interest rates.
Contrary to what was predicted, March had a weak employment report. There was an increase of 126,000 jobs. This was about half of what was predicated and substantially less than the employment numbers reported the last few months. This numbers may lead the Federal Reserve to hold off on increasing short term interest rates. One weak employment report does not necessarily mean things are bad. March’s weak report could simply be attributed to the poor weather we experienced in February. The unemployment rate did not change and is currently at 5.5%.