Most economists not jumping to conclusions about lackluster employment report

These are some of the same folks who badly missed projecting the number of new jobs for March, so I'm not sure we should rely on their every word. But for the most part they're saying the right thing this morning: Namely, that the addition of only 121,000 jobs is disappointing, but not devastating. Some reaction (via Real Time Economics):

-The road back to strong growth is still filled with potholes which make the trip longer but don't stop the journey. -Naroff Economic Advisors

-One disappointing jobs report is not reason to panic, but it will dampen some of the optimism about the strength of the recovery this year. Our read is that March is understating the underlying improvement in the labor market, while January and February overstated it. -Nigel Gault, IHS Global Insight

-A reminder that the U.S. recovery is not suddenly going to transform into a spectacular success, particularly not at a time when the rest of the world economy is stumbling. We expect GDP growth of 2.0% this year and 2.5% in 2013. -Paul Ashworth, Capital Economics

-Employers spent a great deal of time and attention reducing costs over the past few years and apparently do not yet see enough solid evidence to sharply reverse course on hiring. This could presage more disappointing job counts later this spring. -Ken Goldstein, The Conference Board

As could be expected, the TV folks are practically forecasting a new recession, which is obviously not the case. But hey, it's a quasi-holiday, there's not much else going on, and they need something juicy to carry the weekend. So suddenly the economy is on the verge of collapse - just as higher gas prices were about kill off the recovery just a few weeks ago.