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Top Links: A few broad themes are emerging from another solid monthly jobs reports

Top Story: April’s numbers — payrolls +165K, unemployment down to 7.5% — were good.
True to form, Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Eric Cantor have found reason to gripe about another solid jobs report. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
True to form, Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Eric Cantor have found reason to gripe about another solid jobs report.

Top Story: April’s numbers — payrolls +165K, unemployment down to 7.5% — were good. More importantly, however, a few broad themes about the economy are finally starting to emerge.

Theme #1: Positive Revisions

  • The revisions to the Feb (from +268K to +332K) and March (+88K to +138K) payrolls numbers are what we called the “buried lede” in this business. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
  • And keep April’s +165K in mind: “Since early in 2011, initial reports have been greatly understating total employment.” (The Economist)

Theme #2: A Persistent Recovery

  • Job gains have averaged +169K/month over the last year. (David Wessel)
  • “Job growth at that pace, if it persists, should be enough to gradually, albeit slowly, bring down the unemployment rate.” (Jared Bernstein)
  • Also, the unemployment rate is at its lowest point since Dec. 2008. (Bespoke)
  • In fact, one of the big highlights of this report is that people are going out and spending — despite the payroll tax hike — which is the reason for the rise in food-service and retail jobs. (Neil Shah)
  • Mind you, the numbers are persistently good … if you have a college degree. Just take a look at how unemployment has changed (or hasn’t) depending on your level of education. (Justin Wolfers)
  • Oh, and another persistent trend in this jobs report? Mitt Romney’s chief strategist has a problem with it. (John Harwood)

Theme #3: There Are Always Negatives

  • Weekly hours worked is down, meaning the average person with a job is working slightly less than maybe they would like. (Neil Irwin) and (Duke St. Journal)
  • Lastly, a very funny joke if you’re planning to do standup in front of a bunch of economists any time soon: This jobs report had “more upward revisions than Reinhart-Rogoff.” (Pawel Morski)