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The warm weather job boost

The unusually warm weather in the United States boosted job creation temporarily by allowing things like more construction activity.

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Debbie No/AP/The Medesto Bee/File
A blooming almond orchard stands in Ceres, Calif. A mild and dry winter boosted US job creation this year.

Though the average temperature for the world as a whole was actually slightly lower than the historical average, it was warmer than usual in the northern part of the United States.

Matthew Yglesias here correctly points out that this boosted job creation temporarily by allowing for example more construction activity. It could be added that by lowering electricity use and therefore prices it held down price inflation and boosted real wages. This means that underlying strength in the job market was somewhat exaggerated.

It also illustrates another point that I've made, namely that a warmer climate has in fact beneficial effects. The Al Gore crowd tries to make us believe that it only has negative effects, but as this illustrates, this simply isn't true.

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