""For a few hours on the first Friday of the month, not much else matters in markets than the wait for, followed by the digestion of, the monthly U.S. jobs numbers. And then it all blows over and we’re often left wondering what all the fuss was about. Get ready for more of the same today.
The government’s labor report has been strikingly erratic since October. First it was the government shutdown, which may have confused some respondents in their responses and led to distortions in the unemployment rate, and after that the unseasonably cold winter, which has continued unabated and has interrupted various job-providing projects. So, by all means stay glued to your computer screen for those few hours today but don’t go imagining that this report is the final word on the state of the U.S. labor market.
UKRAINE: The city council of Crimea’s port city Sevastopol, home of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, voted to join Russia and break links with Ukraine. At the same time Russia’s parliament says it will support Crimea if it seeks to join the Russian Federation. U.S. and European leaders argue such a referendum would be contrary to international law.
The Ukrainian situation is bound to become more complicated before it’s resolved. It seems likely that Crimea will be absorbed into Russia, reversing a strange piece of administrative boundary shuffling by the Soviets. Will eastern Ukraine follow suit? How will Western governments respond? Will Ukraine make efforts to preserve its sovereign integrity? Unfortunately there aren’t likely to be nice, clear answers to intractable questions. This will rumble for a while"".
Source: WSJ
