‘Longest streak on record’: Economists praise ‘very strong’ jobs report
The economy continues to explode. The February jobs report released Friday morning is being called "very very strong" and "very solid" by economists.
The economy added 678,000 new jobs, greatly beating expectations (one Harvard economist admits he projected 150,000.) Unemployment dropped to nearly pre-pandemic levels.
The AP calls it "another gain that underscored the economy’s solid health as the omicron wave fades and more Americans venture out to spend at restaurants, shops and hotels despite surging inflation."
"The Labor Department’s report Friday also showed that the unemployment rate dropped from 4% to 3.8%, extending a sharp drop in joblessness as the economy has rebounded from the pandemic recession."
Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research:
#jobsday as expected, another very strong report 678k jobs, unemployment down to 3.8 percent
— Dean Baker (@DeanBaker13) March 4, 2022
Economist David Rothschild:
US has gained 506,000 more jobs in Biden's first 13 months, than it did in Trump's first 37 months (i.e., our peak month before the COVID crash). pic.twitter.com/SN0WpugCiq
— David Rothschild ???????? (@DavMicRot) March 4, 2022
Calling it "longest streak on record," New York Times economics, business, and data reporter Ben Casselman notes: "We've added at least 400k jobs every month since May."
Time for charts! (Will update as I get time.) First off, the 678k gain in February was another in a streak of strong growth. We've added at least 400k jobs every month since May. That's the longest streak on record. https://t.co/5S4o43pEde pic.twitter.com/tL8ECjgQ6Y
— Ben Casselman (@bencasselman) March 4, 2022
"This was an unambiguously strong jobs report," writes economist and public policy scholar Justin Wolfers, a professor the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.
"Strong payrolls growth. Similar strength in the household survey. Broad-based gains. People getting back to work. Robust revisions. And signs that wage growth may not be the constraint some had feared."
Very very strong payrolls report: +678k jobs in February, with unemployment edging down to 3.8%. Add in solid positive revisions that added a total of +92k to the past two months, and this is a job market that's really motoring.
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) March 4, 2022
CNN Chief Business Correspondent:
678k. Strong jobs growth across sectors. For context, the average monthly jobs gain in 2019 was 164,000, https://t.co/HVOg6NmYpu
— Christine Romans (@ChristineRomans) March 4, 2022