MARKET SCAMS

[thepennyking]

Feds Examine Release of Employment Data

WASHINGTON (AP) - Three government agencies said Friday they were examining whether Labor Department employment figures for March were improperly released, triggering unusual bond market activity a few minutes before the official release time.

The data, showing a large gain of 308,000 new jobs in March, was embargoed for release at 8:30 a.m. EST. Bond markets moved minutes before, raising questions about whether the information had been accidentally or illegally leaked.

Labor Department spokesman Bob Zachariasiewicz said officials talked with staff members who distributed the information to reporters in a locked room Friday morning, and with some reporters there who transmitted the information, and "there is no indication that there was anything out of the ordinary."

Spokesmen for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said the agencies were examining the matter, but declined to say an investigation was under way.

Treasury Secretary John Snow, who said Thursday night that "I think we'll see that we are beginning to create a lot of new jobs," told CNBC Friday that he had not seen the report when he made the remark.

"I just reiterated my standard line that I'm confident that we'll see good jobs in the future," he said.