NFP Beats Bloomberg's Estimates from 89 Economists

Some tidbits from Bloomberg...

With today’s jobs report, the government issued its annual benchmark update, aligning the data with corporate tax records covering the period from April 2010 to March 2011. The Labor Department added 165,000 to the job count over the period.

The report also included methodology changes to the household survey, incorporating new population data from the decennial census, according to the Labor Department.

It also included changes to the figures used to adjust the data for seasonal swings affecting numbers back to January 2007.

Employment climbed more than forecast in January and the U.S. jobless rate unexpectedly fell to the lowest in three years, casting doubt on the Federal Reserve’s pledge to keep interest rates low until late 2014.


 The data may boost President Barack Obama’s re-election bid and come one week after Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the economy wasn’t growing fast enough to push unemployment lower.


The median projection in the Bloomberg survey called for payrolls to rise by 140,000 after an initially reported 200,000 gain in December. Estimates of the 89 economists ranged from increases of 95,000 to 225,000. Revisions added a total of 60,000 jobs to payrolls in November and December. The Labor Department revised December’s gain to 203,000.


Today’s report may change the Fed’s thinking, said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. “The report definitely scales down the odds for QE3, particularly the drop in the unemployment rate,” Feroli said.