Market expectations that reach into superstition are never pleasant to see fail: this morning's announcement of new non-farm payroll jobs in April totaling less than half of predictions has sent Wall Street south for the weekend and will undoubtedly give bears and opposition parties a talking point or three. Alongside the disappointment, however, is another stepwise decline in national unemployment, from 5.2% two months ago to 5.1%. And, as reliably as all else, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' household report shows powerful job creation. National Review's Larry Kudlow has more.
Kudlow could certainly lend a hand to this reporter, who sees "erratic behavior" in robust average payroll growth across a reasonable monthly ebb and flow.