In spite of all of the hand wringing in Washington, the US economy is chugging right along.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there was a strong increase in new payroll jobs in December and that unemployment is holding steady at 4.5%. This was a stronger than expected report.
Self-employment was also up last month by 156,000 to 9.865 million, which is 8.7% of the workforce.
Given the surveys of the past few months that showing that small business owners are already having challenges finding qualified workers, this may not be great news for the entrepreneurial economy as it continues to signal tight job markets and hints of future inflation.
But, as our two soon to be college graduate children pointed out at dinner last night, it is good for them as there are plenty of jobs out there!
