Economy Suckage Continues, Economists Blame Good Weather

I sometime wonder why we listen to them at all.  The current excuse for the continued dragging of the economy is that the good winter weather caused the typical "seasonal" correction for the winter economy to overestimate it's relative performance, leading to unexpectedly low growth in spring.

Mild winter may have artificially inflated jobs data, economists fear

Economists say the mild winter has artificially inflated job growth. February alone stole as many as 72,000 positions from March and future months, according to Macroeconomic Advisers.

Translation: The surge in hiring early in the year may not be as strong as it appeared.

The unusual weather began in January, which was the fourth warmest in more than a century. February ranked in the top 20, according to government data. Weather consulting firm Planalytics said several major cities experienced their warmest March in 118 years, including Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis and Oklahoma City, where temperatures were about 15 degrees higher than average.

For many people, that meant an early debut of open-toed shoes and dinners al fresco, and early mulching and spring cleaning. It also meant more jobs for construction workers and retail employees to keep pace with demand. Planalytics said demand for jumped 40 percent last month for lawn mowers, 17 percent for sun care and 5 percent for bottled water.

Look! A squirrel!