Job Growth is on the rise.

[PIX]

yup....upswing in the process.

Here's the article today at cnn money.

U.S. job growth soars

Gain of 308,000 jobs far better than Wall Street's forecasts; unemployment rate up to 5.7 percent.
April 2, 2004: 8:56 AM EST



NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. payrolls grew at the fastest pace in nearly four years in March, the government said Friday, in a report that soared past Wall Street's expectations and could play a pivotal role in Fed policy and the presidential election.

Payrolls outside the farm sector grew by 308,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department reported, compared with a revised gain of 46,000 in February. The unemployment rate rose to 5.7 from 5.6 percent.


Economists, on average, had expected 123,000 new jobs and unemployment at 5.6 percent, according to Briefing.com.

It was the strongest gain in payrolls since a matching gain of 308,000 in April 2000.

The surprisingly strong number should ease some of the political pressure on President Bush, who has seen little job growth during his administration.

It should also raise speculation that the Federal Reserve is closer than ever to raising its target for the fed funds rate, an overnight bank lending rate it manipulates to steer the economy.

Despite some signs of incipient inflation, most economists have believed that the Fed was waiting for a string of strong payrolls reports to raise rates, and Friday's report could be the first in that string.

"This definitely sets the Fed on the track for the hike they've been talking about for several months," Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services, told CNNfn. "But the Fed does require that there be a sustained trend -- it requires more months like this -- not necessarily at 300,000, but at 200,000 or better."

On Wall Street, stock futures jumped, and prices plunged in the bond market, pushing the yield on the 10-year Treasury as high as 4.15 percent, the highest since February. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The report comes after months of weakness in the jobs market and could be the boost that the Bush administration has been waiting for.