It doesn't depend on whether or not Friday's number is good or bad, disappointing or not. This time around, any number Washington puts out could be taken the wrong way.
The problem is simple: We are in one of those positions that is technically called a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't bind.
If Friday's number is another disappointing one - say, with only 150,000 jobs created - then investors will begin to worry that the economy is starting to flatten out again.
Last week's announcement that the nation's gross domestic product grew at a disappointing 4 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter doesn't help. (And that number was especially bad if you look behind the curtain; a good hunk of the GDP gain came from a fortuitous and inexplicable reduction in the quarter's inflation rate.)
Conversely, if the January jobs figure is too strong, then the financial markets will start a brand-new line of worry - that the Federal Reserve will soon have to raise interest rates. (nyp, j.crudele)