Cheerleading

From the WSJ:

U.S. employment posted a solid rise last month on strong hiring in health care and government and previous months' gains were revised sharply higher, suggesting labor market conditions remain very supportive of economic activity at midyear.

[...]

Nonfarm payrolls increased 132,000 in June, after swelling 190,000 in May and 122,000 in April, the Labor Department said Friday. Previous reports showed job growth of just 157,000 in May and 80,000 in April. Monthly job growth has averaged a robust 145,000 so far this year. The unemployment rate was unchanged last month at 4.5%. Average hourly earnings increased $0.06, or 0.3%, to $17.38. That was up 3.9% from a year earlier, suggesting tight labor markets still aren't putting much pressure on labor costs.

[...]

The data provide further evidence that the economy has picked up considerable steam after several subpar quarters. Gross domestic product advanced just 0.7% in the first quarter. However, economists expect that to mark a low point of the current cycle with growth likely exceeding 3% in the second quarter.

Let's take a deep breath for a second. First of all, a job creation of 132,000 in June, although "solid" still doesn't keep up with population growth. That over/under number is about 180,000. Job growth of 145,000 can't shouldn't be called "robust" if we fall further behind our growth in population every month. Second, the job gains were based on growth in government hiring? This continues to be the biggest untold story of the current economy - job growth is being fueled largely by growth in the government sector. Finally, I'm not sure how much steam the economy has picked up. We know from prior reports that inventories were depleted so there is some catch up being done there. We also know that housing is on the verge of a collapse, retail stores are starting to report weaker sales results and people, in general, are starting to get the heebie-jeebies.

Let's all just keep clapping though and maybe this pig really will gussy itself up and dance.