Today’s employment report was, well, discouraging. Or was it? The range of opinion was unusually wide, or so it seems.
The reported facts, at least, are clear. Quoting from the Labor Department’s press release, “The unemployment rate fell from 10.0 to 9.7% in January, and nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged (-20,000), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment fell in construction and in transportation and warehousing, while temporary help services and retail trade added jobs.”
But that’s just the beginning. Or is it the end? You decide. Here’s a sampling of the commentary on today’s numbers that, for one reason or another, caught our attention…

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Martin Fridson of Fridson Investment Advisors reviews my new book, Dynamic Asset Allocation: Modern Portfolio Theory Updated for the Smart Investor, via the CFA Institute.

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. That about sums up the struggle in nonfarm payrolls to reach the tipping point of growth (or at least zero).

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