The United States economy may have turned the corner. An impressive jobs report has kindled hope that the long-sought rebound may finally be taking place. While the White House is welcoming signs of recovery, it rightfully worries about over-inflated expectations. The employment news is good, not great, and a durable recovery is anything but assured. Indeed, the chief concern now is the danger of complacency preventing policy makers from taking steps needed to ensure that a repeat of the global economic crisis does not occur.
According to U.S. government statistics, the U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs in March, the biggest uptick in three years. It is also the third expansion of U.S. payrolls since November.
The recovery was broad-based. Temporary employment topped 40,000, the payrolls of health care and social services providers grew 37,000 (the biggest gain in those sectors in nearly two years), manufacturing added 17,000 jobs and the retail sector added just under 15,000. Transportation and warehousing companies added another 7,800 jobs, the biggest growth in those industries since September 2007.