Unemployment Rate Holds at 8.3 Percent in Longest Jobs Slump Since Great Depression

While some media outlets are pumping up the "momentum" on the economy, it's the business cycle swinging back towards growth more than any kind of federal economic stimulus that explains things. Continued improvements in the perceptions of the economy could help Obama's reelection. So the trick for the eventual GOP nominee will be to cheer the natural resiliency of the American economy while highlighting how the failed stimulus and ObamaCare sopped up entrepreneurship and enterprise as employers held back in a negative regulatory climate.

IBD has a report, "Payrolls Jump Again, Bringing In More Job Searchers":

While the pace of job growth has improved since the summer, it's the bare minimum to support an employment recovery and probably won't get much better, said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak: "I don't see any signs of acceleration going forward."

The next few months may see similar payroll gains, but weaker business investment points to a drop later this year as employers finish playing catch-up, Wilkinson predicts.

The share of working-age Americans employed or looking for work ticked up to 63.9% in February from January's 31-year low of 63.7%. Despite the positive job news since last summer, there's a long way to go. Those unemployed for over six months have been falling, but remain at an elevated 5.43 million. Payrolls have been below their last peak for 49 months, the longest slump since the Great Depression. With employment still 5.33 million off the high reached in January 2008, that streak looks to continue for years.

More at the link.

And see Lonely Conservative, "Chart of the Day: Obama’s Jobs Deficit."