A FAVORABLE JOBS REPORT – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  Some pundit last week declared Obama a lucky man, and maybe he is.  Throughout his career, luck seems to have fallen on him at critical times.  Now, just as we see the first stirrings of the 2012 election season, a new jobs report may confirm the "lucky" scenario.  From Bloomberg:

U.S. employers added 192,000 workers in February, amid an improving economy and more seasonable weather, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly declined to 8.9 percent, the lowest level since April 2009.

The gain in payrolls followed a 63,000 increase in January and compared with the 196,000 median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Employment rose in manufacturing, construction and temporary help agencies, while state and local government payrolls slumped.

Bigger monthly job gains would substantiate Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s testimony to Congress this week that there are “grounds for optimism” about the labor market in coming months. Employment growth and increases in confidence are contributing to sales gains at companies like J.C. Penney Co. and Macy’s Inc. (M) as Americans continue to spend.

COMMENT:  Obviously, this can change in coming months, up or down.  But if progress continues, Obama will get a huge boost in his reelection prospects, especially if Americans are prepared to look the other way as our foreign policy crashes and burns.

March 4, 2011