The monthly jobs report always gets a lot of attention. Headlines usually focus on the number of jobs added (or lost) in the month and the unemployment rate. Occasionally, the hourly earnings number will be quoted and even more rarely there will be a mention of average weekly hours worked. While the noise focuses on the payroll number (+379,000 in February), more important news is that this accompanied a contraction in the average weekly hours number. The combination of these is the aggregate weekly hours index, which fell in February to its lowest level since September and remains more than 6% below its peak. If the US economy is on a sustainable road to recovery, this index should start to move meaningfully higher in the months ahead. It’s something I’ll continue to be watching.
