So good earnings news from Berkshire (BRKA), especially on the same day where the jobs numbers were a lot stronger than expected, and showed signs that wages are finally increasing, would seem to be a really good sign for the economy.

And it is, though not as good as it seems.

A large chunk of Berkshire’s earnings, $4.4 billion, in the third quarter came from a non-cash gain on Berkshire’s investment in Kraft Heinz Co., which was generated when Mr. Buffett helped to orchestrate the tie up of the two companies. So I guess that signals the market is healthy, especially for big deals, or was back in July, but doesn’t say a lot about the economy.

Take that out, and Berkshire’s operating profit actually fell 4% in the third quarter to $4.55 billion. That doesn’t sound so great. But the drop there was from the company’s insurance business. Car insurer Geico saw a 34% decline. And car sales have been up, so that could be a problem at Geico, not actually reflective of the economy.

As for Berkshire’s non-insurance operating businesses, which are really the most economic sensitive, were up 5% in the quarter. But even there it was a mixed bag. Revenue from Berkshire’s retailing and services businesses, which includes NetJets and Dairy Queen, rose 76%, in part because of acquisitions. Its energy and utility business was also up, but only 6%. But sales at the company’s most economically sensitive businesses, its manufacturing division and its railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe were both down.

So as Berkshire goes as a bellweather for the economy, it’s not actually ringing all that loudly.

(Reuters contributed to this article)