Friday, March 8, 2013 - 8:22 AM

Unemployment Rate Falls To Four-Year Low Of 7.7% In February

From the Los Angeles Times

The nation's unemployment rate fell in February to a new four-year low of 7.7% as employers added a stronger-than-expected 236,000 jobs over the month, thanks in good part to the rebounding housing market.

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According to the Calculated Risk Blog, "This was a fairly solid employment report and better than expectations."

If the unemployment rate keeps droping like this, the sooner the Fed will end its zero interest rate policy. Of course, there is still a long way to go. You can see that in the bottom chart in the CR blog.

KenBDG5,132 posts since
Nov 29, 2009
Rep Points: 116,925

1. Friday, March 8, 2013 - 9:02 AM

This year is starting out with a bang. Record high Dow, a hot housing market, improving retail sales and finally decent jobs numbers. I wouldn't, however, keep my hopes up for any change in ZIRP for a couple of years at least. The Fed, either under Bernanke or Yellen, would be hesitant to take the punch bowl away even if unemployment drops below 6.5 percent. The re-creation of another stock and housing market bubble is on Bernanke's wish list in order to spur robust spending. Unless there is a profound, sustained spike in inflation there is no compulsion to move away from the current rate policy.

Shorebreak1,273 posts since
Apr 6, 2010
Rep Points: 4,750