Thoughts on Friday's Jobs Report

There was probably too much made out of the slowing in payroll employment growth in the March jobs numbers reported yesterday. This was likely driven in large part by the unusually good weather in January and February that brought a lot of spring hiring forward. However there were a couple of items that did not get the attention they deserve.

First, there is some limited evidence that wage growth is slowing. Typically the year over year change in the average hourly wage is reported. While the...