Taking stock of U.S. job numbers

Taking stock of U.S. job numbers

Labor figures to tell if profit-rich cos. are hiring

All eyes will be on this morning's official Labor Department jobs report to see if a week when the Dow set new records can be capped by signs that profit-rich U.S. companies are ramping up hiring despite concerns about federal budget cuts.

"I think the fundamentals in the economy are such that it's appropriate to be cautiously optimistic about (today's) numbers," said Michael Goodman, a public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

The employment figures for February will likely reflect positive economic growth as the country hasn't yet felt the full effects of the budget cuts and tax hikes enacted by Congress, experts said.

The United States added an estimated 157,000 jobs in January, but that number is subject to revision. The nation's unemployment rate currently sits at 7.9 percent. Earlier this week, the ADP report showed 198,000 jobs added in February.

Massachusetts, meanwhile, reported an increase of 16,100 jobs in January. Even though unemployment remains steady at 6.7 percent, the Bay State's economy was buoyed by the creation of 92,800 jobs in 2011 and 2012 — 32,100 more than previously estimated over that two-year period.

"It suggests the state's emphasis on innovation and technology has paid off, but obviously there's still a long way to go before we're in a position where everybody who's looking for jobs in Massachusetts are able to find them," Goodman said. "But it's an important step in the right direction."

The Dow Jones industrial average continued its record run to close yesterday at 14,329.49. Weekly national unemployment claims also fell to 340,000, their lowest level in five years.

Continued economic growth can also cushion the expected slowdown that $85 million in automatic spending cuts will trigger at the state and national levels in the ensuing months, said Northeastern University economist Alan Clayton-Matthews.

"There will be a substantial amount of steam taken out of economic growth, but there is a substantial amount of steam to absorb the tax increases and spending cuts," he said. "We won't see the full effects of sequestration for another year probably, and hopefully within that period of time there will be another deal worked out in Congress to rapidly approach this deficit problem we have.

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