So will tonight be the night that marks the rebirth of the depressed American jobs market?

That's when the US jobs and unemployment figures for February will be released.

Economists are once again saying that from 160,000 to over 200,000 jobs could be created.

The jobless rate fell to 9% in January as the number of new jobs was less than expected, but that was put down to the impact of the snow and severe winter weather across much of the country.

There's now a belief that with nothing much in the month that would hold back a more accurate picture, the new figures tonight could very well surprise on the upside because of a more accurate picture for January and solid growth in February.

In fact some economists see around 200,000 jobs being created and a jobless rate of 9.1%, as more people re-enter the work force, attracted by the improving conditions.

The weekly jobless claims figures are now consistently under 400,000 each week and have been falling now since late last year.

Of course the if there's not a significant improvement, the mood in the US will darken, and Wall Street could very well sell off heavily.

But the expectation is for an improvement (although the situation in Libya might dampen any market enthusiasm).

The US federal Reserve, which holds its next meeting on March 15, is getting more positive.

The Minutes of its last meeting in early February saw its economic forecasts for 2011 lifted.

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