This past Friday, all eyes and ears were turned to the Fed. That morning, the Labor Department reported 271,000 new jobs, a number much higher than expected. Of course this is great news for the markets and our economy in general. More hiring means that managers are expecting business to pick up, orders to increase, and for the health of our nation’s commerce to generally improve. We take this as a sign that business profits will improve. All good things for the market.

But what about the Fed? This much stronger than expected number is widely expected to be the signal the Fed takes to mean the economy is ready for an increase in interest rates. It almost certainly won’t be much: 0.25% or 0.5%. But what it will do is end eight years of the zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) that has defined our, and indeed the world’s, economy. It will mean recognition by the Fed that we are moving into a new economic time. It could also means a short-term dip in the market, but we are not concerned with such temporary movements.

Our nervousness about the market is assuaged by the jobs number. We continue to be positive for the long term.

Looking ahead, this week we will see how the nation’s retail sales are holding up. Last month, we saw month-over-month growth of just 0.1%, lower even than the consensus of 0.2%. A beat in this metric would underscore the need for action on interest rates.