axios. this is one of a string of jobs reports that have exceeded expectations. why does this keep happening? the economy continues to grow. it s not growing nearly at the rate it was a year or two ago, but it continues to grow. we had a huge disconnect in terms of jobs available and people to fill them. how do you expect this new jobs report to affect the fed s take? thus, you know, it s this weird dicot mick.
years. it comes just days after federal reserve raised interest rates for the tenth consecutive time as a way to fight inflation. however, the fed to suggest that the economy might have slowed up that it might be able to pause raising points for some time. joining me now is nbc news correspondent, scott we re getting kind of mixed signals here when it comes to the economy. the job report is strong, but inflation process. how should we interpret all thus? you, know it s tough. if anyone is a little confused by these completely mexican, al-zahrani good company. some are fed policymakers, and some of the world s leading economists. on one hand, as you said, we have really strong higher rain. at the same time, fed chairman, jerome powell, to save the day, two days before the jobs reports, that the economy had slowed significantly. we have nearly 10 million job openings across the country. that s one and a half jobs for every available worker. yet, students who are about to
could be bumpy, telling both the house and senate this week hat central bank could raise interest rates higher and faster than previously expected. powell s comments came days before the labor department released a stronger than expected jobs report with the u.s. economy adding 311,000 jobs in february. let s bring in kevin hassett, former chair of the council of economic advisers at the white house and distinguished visiting fellow at hoover institution. kevin, looking very distinguished today. [laughter] as a fellow. please, tell us first about the strength of this economy. i mean, it s surprising with these jobs reports. i know you were thinking that maybe we d see, you know, lower slower growth this year. that what s going on? right. i think what s going on is that the government has continued to throw demand on the fire. one thing that, it s a joke, like, before biden s budget came out, i went back and looked at
interest rates. at the same time the activity data people are expecting to come out on wednesday, things like retail sales, are expected to be much stronger than they were last month. people around the market seem to be expecting this goldilocks scenario of falling inflation, rising activity and the fed getting to the end of its interest rate hiking cycle. there could be a whole range of possible outcomes over the next couple of days. the possible outcomes over the next couple of days- couple of days. the fed are keein: couple of days. the fed are keeping an couple of days. the fed are keeping an eye couple of days. the fed are keeping an eye on - couple of days. the fed are keeping an eye on housingl couple of days. the fed are - keeping an eye on housing cuts, wage growth and recentjob reports? wage growth and recent ob reorts? , ~ wage growth and recent ob reorts? , . ., reports? exactly right. we are seeinu reports? exactly right. we are seeing jobs reports? exactly right.
has bounced back after back-to-back quarters of negative growth to start the year. now, let s talk about jobs. because we ve spoken about layoffs, big time layoffs in tech and in media. but jobless claims are still really low. these new numbers out this morning show that initial claims, they only rose slightly last week, staying around a two-month low. they are almost exactly where they were a year ago and that shows that the businesses are reluctant to get go of the workers which makes sense because there is a shortage of workers right now. that that dips slightly but it is near a 10-month high. and that is a sign that people who are out of work to get a new job. it is a sign that hiring has slowed down which is backed up by the monthly jobs reports. at end of the day, this economy clearly faces some significant risks for next year, inflation is still way too high, the fed is not done yet, and some