CNBC commentator Ron Insana, like many others, sees the February jobs data as a sign of strength.
"Despite abysmally cold weather in February, there are no signs that the February unemployment report was a snow job," he wrote in a commentary for
CNBC.
The unemployment rate slipped to an almost-seven-year low of 5.5 percent. And non-farm payrolls rose 295,000, representing the 12th straight month with a gain of at least 200,000. That's the longest such streak since 1995.
To be sure, Insana acknowledges the weak points of the report. Average hourly wages rose only 2 percent in the 12 months through February. And the labor participation rate totaled just 62.8 percent last month, barely above the 37-year low 62.7 percent.
"But the strong data suggests to the bond market that June is back on the table, as far as a rate hike from the Federal Reserve," Insana writes.
"I have argued that the Fed will not, and should not, raise [interest] rates this year. . . . However, if the data remain this strong in the next two months, it will be increasingly difficult for the Fed to refrain from making its first move."
Most experts expect the Fed to lift rates around mid-year. The central bank has kept its federal funds rate target at a record low of zero to 0.25 percent for six years.
Tom Hutchinson, senior editor of the Newsmax newsletter "The High Income Factor" and member of the Newsmax Financial Braintrust (FBT), told
Newsmax TV he's skeptical the Fed will be strong enough to raise rates as much as necessary.
"It's a huge problem," Hutchinson said. "The Fed has injected itself in the economy like never before in history. Since the recession, they've pumped more than $4 trillion into the banking system" in addition to the low rates.
"What's being debated now is raising the rate from near-zero, priced for a depression scenario, and they're having trouble doing even that," Hutchinson said. The Fed has pledged a "patient" path to raising rates.