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How will the Fed respond to March’s jobs numbers?

Jeremy Hobson Apr 9, 2012

Jeremy Hobson: Well here in this country this morning, Wall Street will get its first chance to react to Friday’s disappointing jobs report from the Labor Department. The report said just 120,000 jobs were created last month — far short of the 210,000 economists were expecting.

That could influence the Federal Reserve, as the central bank considers whether to do more to spur hiring, says Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wells Fargo.

Mark Vitner: If it’s your job to promote a monetary policy that helps engender economic recovery, I think you’re going to err on the side of hey, some of these things don’t add up, I think maybe we should do a little more ease — what’s the harm that that’s going to do?

We may get some clues about what the Fed plans to do when chairman Ben Bernanke speaks in Atlanta this morning.

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