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The economy added 227,000 new jobs in February, according to a report released this morning. That’s not bad but not as good as January, when 284,000 new jobs were added. The unemployment rate held steady at 8.3 percent, which is the lowest level it has reached in three years. If you are one of the
The headlines will all scream about the drop in the unemployment rate to 9.4 percent. But job growth was a middling 103,000, powered by private sector hiring of 113,000. Those numbers are not enough to pull the unemployment rate lower, and certainly not to the extent that it dropped. So if hiring isn’t bringing the
The November jobs report came in well short of expectations. November saw just 39,000 new jobs and 50,000 in the private sector, compared to expectations in the 130,000-175,000 neighborhood. The revisions that make September and October appear slightly better are no consolation. Yes, the November figures will be revised twice more, but it won’t be enough to
Working longer seems like a simple way to stretch retirement resources, but a lot of people obviously find this an unacceptable retirement planning option. At least, it appears that way based on a very unscientific measurement: the number of posted comments and e-mails I get every time I suggest it. Richard Johnson, senior fellow at
