Good morning.
Friday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 36. Sunrise is 6:13 AM and sunset 5:55 PM for 11h 41m 50s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 91.1% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 2000, the Dot-com bubble peaks with the NASDAQ Composite stock market index reaching 5,048.62.
Lauren Kaori Gurley reports Economy adds 311,000 jobs in February, reflecting ongoing labor market strength (‘The job gains came in lower than January’s eye-popping numbers but the figure beats economists expectations’):
The economy churned out 311,000 jobs in February, reflecting impressive labor market strength more than a year into the Federal Reserve’s fight to cool the economy.
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The resilient labor market comes as a blessing for many workers, affording many the ability to switch into better jobs and negotiate raises over the past year and a half. Average hourly wages rose by 0.2 percent between January and February. Overall pay is up 4.6 percent from a year ago, to an hourly average of $33.09 an hour.
However, the Federal Reserve could use the labor market’s strength to justify raising interest rates at a more aggressive pace than outlined just months ago, which Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell talked about while testifying before Congress earlier this week.
Inflation has fallen since reaching 40-year-highs last summer, but prices remain well above normal. A new inflation report to be released next week will provide more clarity on whether the Fed has made enough progress to continue slowing interest rate hikes.
The strength of the labor market is largely being propped up by booming consumer demand for services and experiences coming out of the pandemic. Some of the largest job gains in February were in leisure and hospitality, retail trade, government, and health care. Employment fell in information, transportation, and warehousing.
How to Pack a Spacecraft: Science Payload on Earth Science Mission Heads to India: