The Economy: Good news; but...

The nation’s economic picture brightened in February, as employers added more than 200,000 jobs for the third month in a row and more people were encouraged enough by the growing economy to start looking for work again.

But the good news came with a technical caveat: The monthly unemployment rate -- a crucial number closely watched by both economists and politicians -- remained stuck in neutral at 8.3 percent. Though analysts welcomed Friday’s report as another step in the right direction for the recovery, the jobless rate has become a political flashpoint in Washington and on the campaign trail.

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