Jan

ADP Job Numbers UP 297,000 in December

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Private-sector employment jumped a record 297,000 in December, according to Automatic Data Processing Inc.’s employment report released Wednesday, in what could be a signal that the recovery is finally adding jobs at a meaningful clip.

There is no doubt that we should celebrate this news, for the families and individuals who recently found work and who can support themselves without the assistance of welfare programs.

A few remarks: December is Christmastime. Retailers hire for the holiday sales rush. GDP, a not great indicator of economic health, is basically a summation of receipts. A flurry of sales one month does not mean at all that spending will continue next month.

The true measure of economic health is always production and employment. In economic terms, it means you are at the full possible utilization of all resources, to the extent that is practically possible (given frictional unemployment, technological disruptions, resource discovery and exhaustion, etc.). There is little government can do to help realize this state of affairs, aside from keeping the peace and improving information gathering and broadcasting, which make for more informed and (therefore, we assume) better decision making.

Fundamentally, there is nothing that should excite a competent economist. Our Federal government has taken all efforts to create a 2nd Great Depression and has largely succeeded through an unprecedented intervention that has left us with outstanding questions and yet-to-be felt unintended consequences.

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