CNBC anchor Becky Quick gushed over a February jobs report that showed 678,000 jobs created, as well as other positive indicators like an unemployment rate of 3.8 percent.
On Friday morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Employment Situation Summary report, which showed upward revisions totaling 92,000 jobs for December and January, for a total gain of almost 800,000 jobs.
CNBC anchor Rick Santelli reacted to the news in real-time with enthusiasm, reading off several data points as they rolled in at 8:30.
“I do see that the number is out and it is 678,000, six hundred and seventy-eight thousand!” Santelli enthused, adding, “I do think I won. That is much better than expected.”
Seconds earlier, Santelli had predicted 660,000 would be the number of jobs added.
“And if we look at the two-month revision, it’s a positive 92,000, on the unemployment rate, 3.8 percent,” Santelli continued, “Average hourly earnings month over month. Boy, is this a mistake? Zero, I see zero month-over-month change. Not sure if that’s accurate or not. On the year-over-year hourly earnings, 5.1 percent.”
According to BLS, there was a negligible increase:
Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, at $31.58 in February, were little changed over the month (+1 cent), after large increases in recent months. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 5.1 percent. In February, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 8 cents to $26.94.
“First of all, congratulations. I think you were the closest to that number,” Quick told Santelli, then turned to her panel.
But let’s get right to the rest of our jobs panel for more on this instant reaction. Steve, first of all, we just said that this number was not as important as it was 48 hours ago now that we know what the Fed’s doing. But these numbers are incredibly positive across the board, strong numbers and that wage inflation not showing up as people had worried was.
Watch above via CNBC.
The post ‘Incredibly Positive Across the Board!’ CNBC’s Becky Quick Gushes About Feb. Jobs Report Showing 678k Jobs Created first appeared on Mediaite.
