Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (03/20/2014) Camden Cornwell

Although recent economic data indicate that economic growth has softened since the start of the year, some reports suggest that the true picture of the underlying economy has been temporarily clouded by weather-related shocks in business and consumer activity. The overall six-month moving average of job creation was given a boost to 177,000, thanks to the addition of 175,000 seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs in February and an upward revision of 15,000 jobs for January.

Experts attribute the marginal increase in unemployment to workers reentering the labor force and the drop in hours worked to weather disruptions that kept employees at home. Recent encouraging reports regarding production and employment indicate a bounceback in economic growth is likely this year.