And so the confusion remains: why did Yellen go uber dove three days ahead of a day in which the BLS reported that in March not only were 215K jobs created, more than the consensus 205K, if below last month’s 245K, but in which average hourly earnings rebounded a solid 0.3%, above the 0.2% expected, and well above last month’s -0.1% decline.
Wages rose:
However, the fly in the the ointment was that the unemployment rate picked up modestly from 4.9% to an above expectations 5.0%, while manufacturing payrolls dropped 29K, far below the 2K increase expected, and below last month’s -18K. Additionally, the energy recession is finally trickling down with oil and gas extraction payrolls falling 19,200 from a year earlier.
And the last notable point: average hourly hours worked were flat at 2 year lows, which bodes poorfly for both productivity growth and for GDP.
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1M5WorF Tyler Durden