Last Friday’s initial unemployment report for August showed only 130,000 new jobs created last month versus the pre-report consensus of 150,000 new jobs. Of the 130,000 jobs created, 25,000 were new government hires for the 2020 census. The mainstream media reacted as expected and warned that a new recession is just around the corner. What else is new?
To that I would respond with two comments. First, the initial August jobs report is one of the most unreliable of the year and is often revised higher in the next couple of months. Second, other than the disappointing number of jobs, the report contained plenty of solid indicators on the economy.
For example, the headline unemployment rate held steady at 3.7% for the third consecutive month, near a 50-year low. The number of people employed in August increased by a very impressive 590,000, pushing total employment to a record-high of nearly 157.9 million. The percentage of the adult population that was employed rose to 60.9%, the highest percentage since December 2008.
Average hourly earnings increased at a healthy clip as well, growing by 3.2% percent since last August. It was the 13th month in a row that wages increased by at least 3% year-over-year. That’s tremendous news for American workers.
Unemployment among African Americans and Hispanics also hit new record lows again last month, proving that the ongoing economic boom is still creating unprecedented opportunity for all US workers.
With more money in their pockets, consumers are spending more aggressively. Keep in mind, consumer spending accounted for 68% (over two-thirds) of US GDP in 2018. The imminent recession that Democrats keep predicting requires two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. Fuhgeddaboudit!
With more people working, making more money, and taking home more of what they earn, it’s no surprise that in the 2Q of this year consumer spending increased 4.7%, the biggest quarterly increase since 2014 and the second largest since 2003.
Those are great results in any context, but the magnitude and durability of this economic expansion is especially remarkable considering the gloomy economic consensus that existed before President Trump took office — during what even Obama economist Larry Summers referred to as “the age of secular stagnation.”
Just before the 2016 presidential election, when President Obama’s economic defeatism was still the order of the day, the Congressional Budget Office 10-year economic projections predicted the economy would add only about 2 million new jobs from the end of 2016 through the end of 2019. Thanks to the shift to a common-sense, pro-growth agenda, however, we’ve actually gained an impressive 6.1 million new jobs since end of 2016 — more than 2 million in just the last 12 months alone.
While the media claimed last Friday’s unemployment report was a sure sign the economy is running out of steam, don’t be surprised if the August jobs number is revised higher on October 4 when we get the initial employment report for September.
Trump Dominates Media News – Little Time For Dem Hopefuls
The conservative watchdog Media Research Center (MRC) conducted a study of the major networks’ (ABC, NBC, CBS) evening news broadcasts to see how much coverage President Trump received versus the 20 or so Democratic presidential hopefuls. The study was conducted from June 1 to August 31. You may be stunned by the results!
MRC found the three major networks devoted 838 minutes – almost 14 hours – to coverage of President Trump personally. That compared to only 74 minutes for former Vice-President Joe Biden and only 30 minutes for California Senator Kamala Harris. Take a look below:
Overall, 21 Democratic candidates (including some who have since departed the race) received only 187 minutes of combined evening news airtime this summer, less than one-fourth of that of Trump alone. The media’s obsession with Trump means there is little time left to cover the Democratic wannabes. While that is shocking, here’s the real stunner:
MRC found that 90% of the media news coverage of Trump was NEGATIVE!
MRC notes that its report only examined coverage of Trump himself, not generic stories about his administration’s activities or those of other top-ranking officials, which accounted for an additional 213 minutes of evening news airtime for Trump.
Clearly, the mainstream media despise President Trump and hope their 90% negative coverage will drive him out of office next year. Yet the question is whether this ultra-lopsided negative coverage will help or hurt Trump in the election next year.
Most voters are smart. It remains to be seen if this will backfire on the major networks and other media come election time next year.
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