But there are indications of further momentum headed into 2014: Consumption in the fourth quarter of 2013, for example, grew the most in nearly two years and exports surged.
Small job gains in recent months -- 84,000 in December and 129,000 in January -- were likely the result of special factors. All three months, for example, saw severe snowstorms, ice storms and cold that exceeded the norm. Although people absent from work are still counted as employed, severe weather inhibits hiring as business and retail traffic slows. Health care hiring -- a stalwart in recent years, typically about 30,000 a month -- slowed to a gain of just 2,000 in December, 6,000 in January and 10,000 in February. Hospital employment has declined by 10,000 since December. We chalk much of that up to uncertainty over the impact of Obamacare,