Institution: Investors need to consider the macroeconomic context when analyzing US employment data

Golden Ten Data reported on March 5 that BeiChen Lin, Head of Investment Strategy at Russell Investments Canada, stated in a report released before the US non-farm payroll data on Friday that investors should focus on the broader context when examining US employment data. "Employment growth needs to be considered within the overall environment. With US population growth slowing to nearly a standstill, even an increase of 60,000 jobs still represents a healthy growth pace." Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect the US to add 50,000 jobs in February, lower than the 130,000 added in January. Lin added: "We believe that a steady pace of job growth should be sufficient to stabilize the labor market and may even drive a rebound in hiring in the second half of this year."