Jonathan Ferro

I'm pleased to say that joining us now, following the jobs report, is the National Economic Council Director, Kevin Hassett.

Kevin, you're a good man.

Thanks for making time for us this morning.

It's an obvious downside surprise on the jobs report.

The three-month average has dropped to 6K.

I think some people looking at this report at the headline level might be a bit nervous about what's inside it.

Are there some one-offs here that make this look worse than maybe it is?

Kevin, it goes against the grain as well.

ISM data earlier this week was really pretty decent.

Claims were stable too.

Next time we speak next month, do you expect to have a better story to tell?

Tax refunds are a big part of the bull case for the U.S.

economy.

I've got the Bloomberg lighting up in front of me right now with energy prices surging.

How those refunds are going to be spent is key, Kevin, with energy bills still climbing.

What's your assessment of the disruption we're seeing to supply in the Middle East?

As you see, we're starting to see a hit to production.

Because we can't move the oil, we're breaching storage capacity in select producers right now.

You saw some of that with Iraq earlier this week.

The Journal reporting moments ago, we're seeing the same thing in Kuwait and UAE and Saudi Arabia.