It is possible to put a positive spin on the jobs numbers for February, released on Friday. The unemployment rate, though still elevated at 9.7 percent, held steady. The economy shed 36,000 jobs last month, but the pace of job loss is moderating. An average of 27,000 jobs have been lost each month over the past four months, compared with 727,000 jobs a month, on average, over the same period a year earlier.

But a positive note is, sadly, premature. The job market may be hitting bottom, but it seems likely to remain mired there. And despite the insistence that their top three priorities are jobs, jobs, jobs, Congress and the Obama administration aren’t doing enough to create them.

With the latest monthly tally, 8.4 million jobs have been lost since the recession began in December 2007. Another 2.7 million jobs needed to absorb new workers were never created, leaving the economy bereft of 11.1 million jobs. To fill that hole, while keeping up with a growing work force, would require more than 400,000 new jobs a month for three years — wildly in excess of even the most optimistic projections.

Employers are unlikely to make new hires until they restore current workers to full time. In the private sector, just restoring hours cut during the recession will be like adding 2.8 million jobs, without a single hire.