US Unemployment: Finally, Some Truly Good News

The US added 162,000 jobs in March and even when accounting for the large number of jobs provided by the Census, there were still well over 100,000 new jobs.  The fact that the unemployment rate didn't budge from 9.7 percent is not unexpected - new jobs bring job seekers back into the job market - and it will start to budge if this level of job gains can be sustained.  If it can be sustained is a real question at the moment, but a big headline job gain helps inspire confidence in financial markets, businesses and households and from this confidence the recovery will build momentum.  But, like a 100 car freight train, it takes a lot of juice to get it moving - in other words, it will be a slog for some time to come.