Happy Friday. The latest jobs report says the unemployment rate was unchanged last month at 9.7%. Another 36,000 jobs lost. More:

Why I hate the jobs report (Big Game Hunting)

Now I’m hearing that poor weather could affect the report. If you’re motivated, you will walk uphill both ways in 3 feet of snow to interview for a job. If you’re not motivated, you’ll wake up at the crack of noon on a sunny day, eat leftover pizza and play video games. Weather is just another pathetic excuse. By the way, the same goes for Retail companies who use weather as a reason for weak sales. I know women who would walk through a category 9 hurricane if they really wanted a new pair of shoes at the mall.

The national debt is a distraction (Time)

Worrying about debt is like gaining too much weight and worrying about the size of your clothing. America’s indebtedness would be sustainable and even healthy if the underlying economy were vibrant, innovative and strong and if federal and state governments could channel those moneys productively and quickly. The problem isn’t how much debt we’re carrying today; it’s whether the economy of tomorrow will be able to justify it.
And that is the real nub: America isn’t investing enough in its future.

Not till they’ve nothing left to lose? (Reuters) Financial regulatory reform comes at a cost, something ignored at this week’s Make Markets Be Markets forum:

Throughout there was much indignation as to why such sensible reforms haven’t been enacted. Wall Street’s lobby machine got most of the blame, the rest went to “the people” for their perceived lack of outrage. But of course people are mad, and though the lobby machine is strong, it’s not the real obstacle to reform.

We are.

We don’t really want it. More to the point, people care more about their jobs than they do about reform.

Will Obama’s health care plan reduce costs? (Christian Science Monitor)

Marketplace Minute with Bill Radke (MMR) The week’s business news in a one-minute poem…