THE SCARIEST JOBS CHART EVER
The February jobs report is out, and it was solid.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 175,000 workers were added to nonfarm payrolls in February, above Wall Street's estimate of 149,000.
The unemployment rate climbed to 6.7% from 6.6%.
All told, markets are pleased with the report, but it's still a reminder that the U.S. labor market is far from healed.
Bill McBride of Calculated Risk runs a chart every month that puts the jobs recovery into better perspective.
"This graph shows the job losses from the start of the employment recession, in percentage terms, compared to previous post WWII recessions," writes McBride. "The dotted line is ex-Census hiring. This shows the depth of the recent employment recession - worse than any other post-war recession - and the relatively slow recovery due to the lingering effects of the housing bust and financial crisis."
