WHAT RECOVERY? – AT 9:09 A.M. ET:    The Labor Department just issued its monthly jobs report, indicating that the U.S. gained 155,000 jobs in December.

Some of the MSM have gone almost berserk trying to portray this as a Famous Victory, showing steady progress under the one and only Barack Obama.  In fact, it's a mediocre report.  We need 150,000 new jobs each month just to keep up with population growth.  We're barely getting that.  Still, putting on a happy face is the way of the MSM, as it greets Obama's re-crowning on January 20th.  From the obedient Bloomberg service:

Employers added workers in December at about the same pace as the prior month, and the unemployment rate matched a four-year low, showing sustained gains in the U.S. labor market even as lawmakers were struggling to reach a budget deal.

Payrolls rose by 155,000 workers last month following a revised 161,000 advance in November that was more than initially estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of 82 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a increase of 152,000. The unemployment rate held at 7.8 percent after the November figure was revised up from a previously reported 7.7 percent.

But an AP report cautions:

Even with the gains, hiring is far from accelerating. Employers added an average of 153,000 jobs a month last year, matching the monthly average in 2011.

COMMENT:  There are some positive economic indicators, but, given the fact that under Ronald Reagan we actually had a month in which 700,000 new jobs were created, with a much smaller overall population, we should be careful about breaking out the bubbly.  We are still in trouble, and the debt crisis isn't getting any better.

Dicey for 2013.

January 4, 2013