According to the BLS from February 2017 to February 2018, total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 2,281,000, or 1.6%. Employment in mining and logging increased by 58,000, an increase of 8.9%, while construction added 254,000 jobs, or 3.7%.

China's economy looks to be on firm footing, with strong export demand spurring increases in industrial production (+7.2%) and fixed asset investment (+7.9%) over the first two months of the year. Also, retail sales remained strong, growing 9.7% year over year. The data suggest China's estimated 6.5% target growth for gross domestic product is certainly attainable. (LPL)

Oregon’s Lattice Semiconductor's longtime CEO Dan Billerbeck is retiring. He has run the company since 2010. The company makes programmable computer chips for smartphones and digital cameras. (OL)

The Senate votes to ease onerous regulation on small- and medium-sized banks. The move to roll back part of the Dodd-Frank law, which still needs to pass the House, would reduce the number of banks considered systemically important and subject to the toughest oversight by raising the asset threshold from $50 billion to $250 billion. (LPL)

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