First, the good news: The unemployment rate has unexpectedly dropped to 8.6 percent — its lowest level in some two years.
Which is why the White House was quick to herald yesterday’s announcement as “further evidence that the economy is continuing to heal from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.”
But there’s much more to those numbers than a simple statistical downtick.
So hold the hosannas.
For one thing, even the US Labor Department concedes that most of the new private-sector jobs added last month were temporary — i.e., seasonal.
For another, the fact that 120,000 Americans got jobs was more than offset by the troubling sign that 315,000 others dropped out of the workforce entirely; the percentage of Americans actually working now stands at a historically low 64 percent.
There are still 13.3 million people in this country seeking jobs — and their average time unemployed stands at 41 weeks.
Indeed, according to one economist, the number of those filing their first unemployment claim was 402,000 last week — about 12,000 higher than expected.
Even the number of private-sector jobs created was considered disappointing by most economists, given that it basically matches population growth.
And most of those who actually are working are hardly doing well, given that wage stagnation continues and average hourly earnings are down.
Moreover, there are serious storm clouds on the horizon — in the form of Europe’s potential fiscal collapse and its likely impact on the US economy.
So be thankful for the good news and hope it continues.
But don’t be surprised if it doesn’t.