The huge hole torn in the US labour market by the Great Recession has finally been filled in. Payrolls grew by another 217,000 last month, pushing total employment beyond 138.4 million, the peak seen in January 2008.
This milestone is another reminder of the severity of the downturn, says Robin Harding in the Financial Times. It has taken more than six years to get to this new high, twice as long as in any post-war recovery.