Big Jobs Surprise

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What's Happening Today

Happy Friday! It's Kristin with your daily morning digest.

This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest jobs report, showing U.S. employers added 678,000 jobs in February, significantly more than economists had anticipated. The unemployment rate ticked down to 3.8%, also below estimates, and down from a rate of 4% in January. The numbers reflect strong growth in the U.S. labor market, despite fears that surges in COVID-19 cases related to the omicron variant would dampen February's results. The gains also bolster the Federal Reserve's case to raise interest rates to help bring down inflation.

Stocks are falling, while commodities (raw materials like silver or wheat) are still on the rise, driven by supply concerns. Russia is a major producer and exporter of these goods, and the continued conflict in Ukraine has caused commodity and energy markets to spike. Crude oil prices are now over $115 a barrel, increasing the chances that a jump in gas prices at the pump could be coming for American consumers.

Those rising oil prices won't just be felt when trying to fill up your car. Higher levels of inflation usually follow higher oil prices, and the conflict could push the price of oil to $185 a barrel by year-end, according to analysts.

- Kristin

Editors' Picks

Job Market Gains Momentum in February as Omicron Fades (The Balance)

White House Knocks Down Talk of Banning Russian Oil Imports (The Hill)

Is Student Loan Forgiveness Still on Biden's Agenda? (The Balance)

Nearly 40% of Women Over 35 Regret Not Investing for Retirement Sooner (CNBC)

Off the Charts

After paying taxes and making purchases, Americans saved just 6.4% of their income in January, the Bureau of Economic Analysis recently reported.

That's the lowest saving rate we've had since December 2013, and far below the record high of 33.8% reached early on in the pandemic, when widespread job losses made people reluctant to spend, and business closures and stay-at-home orders left them with few places to shop even if they wanted to.

Number of the Day

$185 - That's how expensive a barrel of oil could get by year-end—about $75 more than now—if Russian oil supplies continue to be disrupted, according to analysts.

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Season 2 of the "Money Confidential" podcast is back with "Taxes in Ten," a six-episode mini-season covering your top tax questions. Host and nationally recognized money expert, Stefanie O'Connell Rodriguez, is teaming up with The Balance's very own Editor-in-Chief, Kristin Myers, as well as Caleb Silver, Editor-in-Chief of Investopedia, to talk about everything from doing your own taxes to the specific tax considerations of different life stages. You can listen to "Taxes in Ten" now, with new episodes airing every Monday. Listen now!