As you can see in the chart below, the Jobs Report for February
showed 36,000 jobs lost in February, which was better than the 68,000+
job losses that were expected. Adding to the positive tone of the
report were upward revisions to the prior two month’s reports showing
35,000 fewer jobs lost.  However - helping the numbers were 15,000
temporary census worker hires made by the government. Without these,
actual job losses would have exceeded 50,000 for February.

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Chart: Nonfarm Payrolls

Additionally, the Unemployment Rate remained at 9.7%, better than
expectations of a rise to 9.8%. But a deeper look beyond the headlines
of the report showed what many consider to be the Real Unemployment
Rate to be at 16.8%, a rise from last month’s 16.5%.

This rate includes both discouraged workers - those who are no
longer seeking work at this time - and those who are working part-time
that would rather be “workin’ nine to five” with full time employment,
but are forced to accept part time out of necessity to earn whatever
they can. And just last month, another nearly 500,000 people accepted
part time work, citing economic reasons for doing so.

In related news, Productivity rose by 6.9% during the Fourth quarter
of 2009, up from the previous reading of 6.2%.  This is an encouraging
report, because during an economic recovery, it is normal to see a pick
up in productivity before seeing fresh job creations.  Think about it -
companies may start to see their business pick up, but before making
the commitment of hiring new workers, they will squeeze more
productivity out of their present staff. Job creations may be coming -
but it appears that the labor market recovery will be slow going.

Bonds attempted to rally through the week, but ultimately, improvements in Stocks and positive economic news caused Bonds and home loan rates to end the week around the same levels as where they began.

ALERT! Two
important deadlines are on the horizon: the Fed will stop buying
Mortgage Backed Securities at the end of March (which means home loan
rates may soon be on the rise), and the Homebuyer’s Tax Credit is due
to expire on April 30. If you or any of your friends, family members,
neighbors or colleagues want to learn more about how you can benefit
from the current situation, give me a call or email - I’d be happy to
explain more about the opportunity at hand.

WHILE THE LABOR MARKET HAS BEEN STRUGGLING FOR AWHILE,
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT CERTAIN CAREER PATHS ARE DEFINITELY ON THE RISE!
CHECK OUT THIS WEEK’S MORTGAGE MARKET GUIDE VIEW FOR MORE DETAILS.