RJ and Makay

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The economic downturn of 2008 put a spotlight on small business and the media often pointed to small business as an engine of job growth, according to a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article. The article focused on what extent small businesses actually create jobs, and queried experts to gain insight into the various types of small businesses and the goals of the people who run them.

In a surprise setback on the economic front, new orders for long-lasting manufactured goods — durables — fell in February, suggesting some unexpected softness in manufacturing activity and business investment plans. However, recent labor market gains are persisting, as indicated by a decline in new jobless benefit claims last week and in the four-week average for such claims to its lowest level in more than two-and-a-half years.

According to the Commerce Department, durable goods orders fell 0.9% in February after rising 3.6% in January. Economists polled by Reuters had expected durables orders to increase 1.1% last month. Excluding transportation, such orders fell 0.6% after declining 3.0% in January.

Just when it seemed the economic recovery might sputter, the jobs market delivered some welcome news. According to the Labor Department, hiring rebounded in February, pushing unemployment down to 8.9% — the first time the jobless rate has been under 9% in nearly two years.

The improvement reflects a rise in nonfarm payrolls of 192,000 last month as private-sector employers added 222,000 jobs. There were private-sector job gains in January, too, says the Labor Department, which upwardly revised its estimate of the number of jobs added in January to 63,000 from 36,000.