Weather’s impact

The gentle weather most of the United States is experiencing this winter is helping the economy, economists say.

The question is how much.

Thousands of jobs have been added in construction, auto sales and other sectors that depend on some cooperation from the weather.

In January, only 206,000 people were jobless due to bad weather; generally, the number is about 424,000, USA Today noted.

And construction added 52,000 jobs in the past two months after gaining 32,000 in the previous 12 months.

Some economists acknowledge the weather’s role in job creation; others go further, attributing the recent job surge to the gentle weather.

Mike Montgomery, economist at IHS Global Insight, Lexington, Mass., observed: “Things that normally would be postponed, weren’t. Someone on a business trip this year can get where he wants to go. Bartenders and waitresses get more hours of work than normal. The improvement in the economy is real.”