The U.S. unemployment rate has dropped below 5% for the first time since 2008 and wages are finally on the rise, indicating that the multi-year economic recovery is not done yet.<br />The Labor Department's January report found that the U.S. added 151,000 jobs in the first month of the year, putting the unemployment rate at 4.9%.<br />The paychecks of the average American are also growing, an important element of the broader economic recovery that has lagged behind overall job growth.<br />Market pessimists have begun to argue that these headwinds are going to be enough to send the U.S. economy into a recession - a period of economic contraction.
