Jobs, jobs jobs...

Here - "Hidden Bad Signs in a Good Job Report" - the Wall Street Journal digs a bit deeper into the latest relatively optimistic jobs stats:

1/08-3/11 jobs growth - Steve Benen, Political Animal

(An) overarching issue is the number of people who remain unemployed. Though the rate is dropping, there are still 13.5 million people who would like to work, but can’t get a job and that doesn’t include those who dropped out of the labor force. The broader U-6 unemployment rate that includes people marginally attached to the labor force continued to decline but still remains at 15.7%. So much slack in the job market means that employers don’t feel as much pressure to increase wages.

Finally, there are still some lagging sectors. Amid the broader jobs increases, construction continued to shed jobs, a reminder that the housing market continues to struggle. Meanwhile, local governments facing budget crunches are shedding jobs, 15,000 last month, and more cuts are on the table across the country.