The raw jobs numbers that came out yesterday are a mixed bag of good and bad news.  Labor force participation up, employment up, wages up, but the "official" unemployment rate also went up, and the strong gains in jobs numbers – 280,000 for the month – suggest that the economy will be no better than last year. James Pethokoukis: That negative first-quarter GDP report now seems far less worrisome and far more an outlier than it did initially. Recently Goldman Sachs said “that given the uncertainty around GDP it is better to focus on other indicators—especially employment—to gauge the cumulative progress of the recovery and the remaining amount of slack.” By that measure, the U.S. economic recovery continues to plow forward after a slight early-year stumble. Nonfarm payrolls increased 280,000 in May, the largest gain since December, the Labor Department said this morning. Although the unemployment rate rose to...(Read Full Post)