How strong or weak is the economy?

The jobs report that came out on Friday fell well short of the analysts expectations of 195,000 and instead came in just under the minimum number needed each month needed to keep pace with new entrants. Naturally the administration and their cheerleaders were telling us how impressive the 146,000 new jobs were but then again, failure seems to be cheered on everywhere within the Bush team. With the auto industry falling apart and M&A activity racing along, I think that we will be in for a choppy second half with plenty of good and bad out there. If the housing market bubble bursts while we are in this period, expect a lot more bad than good.