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All things in moderation

Voters seem similarly uplifted. Polls show approval for Barack Obama's handling of the economy growing steadily from August to February before slipping a little, probably on the basis of high petrol prices. In part as a result, he leads all the Republican candidates in most hypothetical match-ups, although that means little eight months before an election.

This is hardly the unshackling of a Titan. As befits a recovery characterised by such fine gradations as the distinction between modest and moderate, there are a lot of caveats. For one, gross domestic product (GDP) does not look nearly as healthy as the jobs data imply. The drop in unemployment since August is on a scale that would normally be expected only if annualised growth were up to 5%, according to Ben Herzon of Macroeconomic Advisers, a consultancy. In fact GDP grew by only 3% (annualised) in the fourth quarter. It is tracking 1-2% in the current quarter. Most economists still expect growth this year of only about 2-2.5%. That is roughly the rate needed to keep unemployment stable; it is not enough to reduce it further.

Despite not matching the GDP figures, the recent employment numbers may nevertheless be accurate. It may be that firms simply can't squeeze more productivity from their workforce and are hiring to meet additional sales. Or it may be that the GDP figures are wrong. Subsequent revisions may show that GDP has been understated in the recovery rather as it was overstated during the recession.

A more pessimistic explanation is that the mild winter has temporarily boosted employment in construction and other weather-sensitive industries, allowing projects to keep going but not encouraging new ones to start. Goldman Sachs reckons this may explain 100,000 jobs. Another possibility, according to J.P. Morgan, is that the size and timing of the 2007-09 recession threw off the process for ironing out seasonal fluctuations in the data. Either explanation implies some of the current strength will be reversed later this year.

Even if the unemployment improvement is for real, there's still the problem of circumstances beyond America's control. Last year's green shoots wilted when the loss of Libyan oil production caused prices to spike; Japan's earthquake and tsunami disrupted supply chains; and Europe's sovereign-debt crisis worsened for the second year in a row. Though as yet this year has seen no large natural disasters, much of Europe is in recession, and the price of oil has risen to $126 a barrel as a result of disruptions to supply, strengthening global demand and the showdown with Iran.

Neither factor helps, but the impact does not as yet seem too bad. Europe's recession is proving to be shallower than expected. The rise in oil prices, which matters more to the American economy than their level, has been smaller than last year—when they were 33% higher than the year before. That is equivalent to prices going up to $145 this year, which is unlikely unless tensions with Iran get much worse.