Big jobs report says the US economy added 235,000 jobs in February.  The private sector added 227,000 and government grew by 8,000. Unemployment rate stands at 4.7%.  (BLS)

There are 5.5 million open jobs in the U.S. economy. The labor force participation rate remains in long-term decline due to demographic factors after peaking in the early 2000s. The participation rate has moved up over the past few years after hitting a 35-year low in mid 2015. At 500,000 the number of discouraged workers in January 2017 was nearly 900,000 lower than at the peak in late 2009/early 2010, when there were 1.3 million discouraged workers. (LPL Research)

It has been a long slow decline, RadioShack has filed for bankruptcy for the second time in two years. The company is closing 200 stores and evaluating the remaining 1,300. No list of stores to be closed has been released. (AP)

Bottled water surpassed soft drinks to become the largest beverage category by volume in the US in 2016. Bottled-water consumption reached 39.3 gallons per capita last year, while carbonated soft drinks slipped to 38.5 gallons. (Beverage Marketing Corp)

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.