National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) Chief Economist Curt Long issued the following statement in response to the Labor Dept.’s February employment report.
“This was a mixed report with positives in the overall jobs figure for February, upward revisions to prior months, and another strong month for labor force entrants,” said Long. “The participation rate climbed again and is up one-half percentage point since September. But the wage figure was disappointing, particularly coming after a strong month in January. With that said, once inflation is considered, 2.2 percent wage growth is not terrible, and as the labor market continues to tighten we should see that figure climb. As for the Fed, this was a decent report but not one that would hold anybody’s feet to the fire to raise rates later this month. We expect the Fed to hold in March with an eye toward a rate hike in June.”