MW: Job gains strong but wages ‘intractable’ problem, economists say
Here are comments from analysts about February’s jobs data. The U.S. economy gained 242,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate held at 4.9%.
Read more about the February jobs report.
• “It’s clear that labor market conditions are still strong. The lack of a more marked pick-up in wage growth is the only missing element. But as far as the Fed is concerned, it is already seeing a clear acceleration in core price inflation, so it can’t delay raising interest rates for much longer. A June rate hike is coming.” — Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist, Capital Economics.
• “We don’t expect payrolls to keep rising at anything like this pace, but the underlying momentum here is strong.” — Ian Shepherdson, chief economist, Pantheon Macroeconomics.
