The economy added 290,000 new jobs last month, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said moments ago. Forecasters expected 162,000 new jobs to be created.

This is a very strong monthly jobs report despite the tick up in the unemployment rate, which will draw all the headlines. Even the increase in the unemployment rate is a good sign. Why? Because it means that discouraged workers — people who actually had given up looking for work — are reentering the job market.

Some 800,000 workers reentered the job market last month. Many of them did not find jobs, so the unemployment rate increased from 9.7 to 9.9 percent. But they’re looking for work again and that’s a strong sign. The Labor Department counts you as unemployed only if you’re jobless and looking for work. If you’re jobless and not looking for work, it counts you as a “discouraged” worker and removes you from the labor market. That can sometimes cause an artificial tick down in the overall unemployment rate.

So today’s takeaway: Don’t focus on the increase of the rate from 9.7 to 9.9 percent. That’s actually a good sign in this instance. Focus on the fact that the economy added 290,000 new jobs last month — and more new jobs were added in February and March, according to revisions also released this morning.

The U.S. unemployment rate is down from the recent high of 10.1 percent in October. The rate is expected to remain near 10 percent for the remainder of this year.

Economists say that in order for substantial, sustainable job growth to occur, the weekly new jobless claims number needs to get down into the low 400,000s or upper 300,000s and stay there. Yesterday, the government reported that 444,000 Americans filed jobless claims last week, the third straight week of declines.

The big news today, of course, will be the stock market. We’ll be watching to see whether it can recover at all from its big plunge yesterday. It may be aided by this better-than-expected jobs report

1. Borrow as little as possible. Keep living expenses as low as possible and try not to borrow to fund them. Remember the old saying: If you live like a lawyer when you’re a law student, you’ll have to live like a law student when you’re a lawyer.

2. Check out your future salary, and the earnings records of the graduates of your school, to see how much you can reasonably afford to put toward debt payments when you finish school. Use a loan repayment calculator to estimate how much that means you can afford to borrow now. If there’s a good chance your payments will leave you with very little to live on, or put your debt to income ratio out of whack, rethink your plans by looking for less expensive schools or better financial aid.

3. Look for loans with the lowest interest rates and fees available. Check with your school or charities to see if you qualify for a loan charging no interest at all.

4. Fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to qualify for low-cost federal student loans. Do this before charging tuition on your credit card or signing up for a private loan.

5. Investigate the growing number of loan repayment or forgiveness programs offered by selected graduate schools, employers and professional organizations. While Loan Repayment Assistance Programs, or LRAPs, are fairly common for lawyers doing public service work, there are a growing number for medical professionals, policy grad students, and even M.B.A.’s.

6. Consolidate your federal student loans with the federal government after leaving grad school and apply for Income-Based Repayment. This new program allows debtors to cap monthly payments below 15 percent of their income. Debtors who work in public service and make 120 on-time payments can discharge their remaining debts for free. Those who keep making payments for 25 years can have their remaining debts forgiven no matter what their jobs.

In order to enroll in income-based repayment you have to qualify by demonstrating financial hardship. The good news is that it is not hard to qualify. A borrower is eligible for IBR if the total initial standard monthly payments for Stafford, Grad PLUS and Federal Consolidation Loans in repayment exceed 15% of the borrower’s discretionary income. What is discretionary income? It is the borrower’s adjusted gross income minus the poverty guideline (which is $16,245 this year). The borrower’s initial IBR payment would then be 1/12 of 15% of their discretionary income.

Under the IBR plan a borrower’s financial situation is reassessed every twelve months. The borrower is responsible for submitting their information every year and based on changes in income and family size their payments will increase or decrease accordingly. However, when a person applies for IBR a monthly payment cap is determined and while enrolled in IBR their monthly payment will never exceed this cap. A borrower can also leave IBR at any time, but once again the borrower is responsible for making the phone call to say they want to withdraw.

One of the huge benefits of IBR is that after 25 years of strict monthly payments whatever a borrower has left to pay is forgiven. If a borrower does not have a job right after they graduate, and therefore has an income of zero, they can still enroll in IBR. Fortunately, within the IBR plan a zero-dollar payment counts towards the 300-payment limit and the 120-payment public service loan forgiveness clock.

The key to getting the most out of IBR is discipline and documentation. Borrowers need to have clear proof of their income, family size and marital status. They need to be disciplined enough to submit their information every year in order to avoid having to make their maximum payment. Also if a borrower wants to be eligible for public service loan forgiveness after ten years they need to keep documentation as proof of their work for an eligible organization.

Does this plan sound like a good deal? On Monday check back to see specific IBR situations and learn what the plan might be able to do for you.

Students who pay into the program—a cost of around $40 – $60 for every thousand dollars of Stafford loans they take out—are covered in case they find themselves unable to make monthly payments during the first five years after graduating. They receive an interest-free line of credit which can be used to make up to 36 payments over a five-year period, provided the student meets the qualifications for financial hardship. College graduates are considered to be facing financial hardship if their monthly student loan payments exceed 10 percent of their income.

Money management training and debt counseling are also included in the program, which currently serves undergraduates only. Some financial aid experts are skeptical that SafeStart offers any significant advantages over government repayment programs, but it could be a viable option for some individuals, depending on their financial and career situations after they graduate.