$Unemployment

KEY DATA:

Here are some thoughts

1. There were a lot of layoffs in oil and gas but these layoffs are slowing.
2. There was significant impact of rising dollar, but lately, the strength in dollar has reversed.
3. Bad weather contributed to the ugly number but the bad weather is behind us.
4. The number is significantly below the recent strong job growth of about 200K per month.
5. The number is inline with very long-term average job growth per month.
6. There are some indications that the U. S. may be close to full employment for practical purposes.
7. This is a lagging indicator.