The size and the gain of employment were perfectly consistent with what we should expect at this part of the cycle. Think of this as Alabama covering a 30 point spread. For those of you not of a football persuasion, that last comment referred to the number one ranked college football team beating an opponent whom the bookies had spotted 30 points on the betting line. In other words, a highly skilled and highly favored team doing exactly what it was supposed to do: convincingly defeat their opponent.
