Net, net, the labor market refuses to buckle in the face of trade war uncertainty, and politicians can count their lucky stars that companies are holding on to their workers despite the storm clouds forming that could slow the economy further in the second half of the year. Real GDP fell in the first quarter, but businesses brought another 177 thousand on board with the caveat that Federal workers receiving severance are still counted as employed and there was a sharp 58 thousand downward adjustment to the payroll jobs count in the prior two months of February and March. The economy is not out of the woods from harmful effects that economists warn the trade tariffs will eventually bring, but at the start of the first quarter, the labor market is in a holding pattern as it awaits an uncertain fate. For the economy it is steady as it goes, unless you are one of the 7.165 million who are unemployed in April for which the economy is not so great. The stock market can breathe a sigh of relief that the economy is holding up for now and go back to reading the tape on whether trade talks are back on or are not. The job market is holding, buy stocks.