Predicition isn't easy . . . and you're told it is

This morning it was announced that job creation in the US dropped by 17,000 last month . . . .

None of the 80 economists surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted the decline in payrolls, which was the first since August 2003. The median forecast in the survey projected payrolls would rise by 70,000, compared with an initially reported gain of 18,000 in December. Forecasts of an increase ranged from 5,000 to 160,000.