On Thursday, we wrote that you shouldn’t be snookered by the monthly jobs report, showing that routine sampling error can create a distorted picture of how the nation’s economy is evolving.

So what about the April numbers? Was the 288,000 gain in payroll employment reported Friday morning dramatic enough that we should interpret it as a meaningful move? Or should a wise, levelheaded economic observer apply a grain of salt and move on with the day?

To answer the question, it’s best to pull back a little bit and look at a bigger set of data than just the one monthly payroll gain number that most excites markets. Forget 288,000 in April. What is the broader trend?

After positive revisions to the February and March data, the average employment gain over the last three months is 238,000, which is the highest since the first three months of 2012 and beats the 194,000 average for all of 2013. That’s good news!