The sequestration’s automatic spending cuts have not yet appeared in economic data and there are fears it could exert a future drag on the economic recovery. But Friday’s employment report — showing a gain of 236,000 jobs and a dip in the jobless rate to 7.7 percent — suggested that American businesses have largely shrugged off the 2 percentage point increase in the payroll tax that was expected to inflict more pain.

Even if corporate revenues climb further, it won’t necessarily lead to rising share prices. Investors have already factored the optimistic economic signs while making their investments.

What’s more, skeptical strategists say there are significant threats ahead for both consumers and corporations. The basic fear in trading circles is that the economic recovery will not be able to survive the Fed’s ending its bond-buying programs. When the Fed does step back from its support for the market, it is expected to send up interest rates, which could dampen lending and the housing market.

“How do you wean an economy off of this easy money policy, which was never meant to be as protracted as it has become?” said Edward Marrinan, the head of macro credit strategy at RBS Securities.

But the Fed has so far been adamant that it will maintain its support for the economy at least until the unemployment rate drops to 6.5 percent. The trajectory the economy has been following is what Fed officials broadly projected when they began giant purchases of bonds in 2008. The money was expected first to shore up the balance sheets of the banks and then help push up the stock portfolios of higher-income Americans. But lower interest rates were also expected eventually to lift the housing market, and then corporate investment in new employees. Data released in recent weeks suggest both are happening.

A number of Wall Street economists responded to the February jobs data by increasing their projection for economic growth this year. Goldman Sachs raised its estimate to 2.6 percent from 2.2 percent, while the bond guru William H. Gross went further and doubled his firm’s previous projection to 3 percent in an interview with Bloomberg Radio.

The Ford Motor Company is one of many that came into the year facing expectations that its revenues would stagnate as a result of a recession in Europe and budget fights in Washington. The company did show declines in its European sales, but it surprised analysts by reporting a 5.5 percent increase in revenue in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier. In January and February, the company’s sales have continued to be better than expected. Ford executives have shown their confidence by announcing a new hiring push, including 450 jobs at a plant in Ohio.