Regarding the weak jobs numbers, I was reminded of this graphic Trump put out a week ago —
As Krugman wrote last week, “Raising $8 trillion in tariff revenue would be quite a trick, given that total U.S. imports last year were only $3.3 trillion.” And the “hundreds of thousands of new jobs” also are a fantasy. Today’s job report from the BLS says the nation added only 22,000 jobs in August. That looks even worse when you learn that the health care sector added 31,000 jobs. So how bad are the other sectors? This is from the report:
In August, employment in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction declined by 6,000, after changing little over the prior 12 months.
Wholesale trade employment continued to trend down in August (-12,000) and has fallen by 32,000 since May.
Manufacturing employment changed little in August (-12,000) but is down by 78,000 over the year.
Employment in transportation equipment manufacturing declined by 15,000 over the month, in part due to strike activity.
Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including construction, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and other services.
All the bobbleheads on the teevee want you to know that these numbers will be revised as new data comes in. So it might not be quite as bad as it looks now. But no way is it good.
Oh, and the report also included this gem:
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for June was revised down by 27,000, from +14,000 to -13,000, and the change for July was revised up by 6,000, from +73,000 to +79,000. With these revisions, employment in June and July combined is 21,000 lower than previously reported.
The best jobs president ever, or at least since World War II, was Bill Clinton. During his two terms the nation added 18.6 million jobs. Of course, presidents don’t actually create jobs, but their policies can go a long way toward creating an economic environment that is conducive to job creation. Or not.
One Trump administration official tells Rolling Stone that their office had pre-written different drafts of talking points for their principal: One version would blame BLS prominently for supposedly pumping out bad data; if the jobs report ended up being more positive for Trump, another version would downplay the BLS criticism or nix it entirely.
Friday’s monthly jobs report was not positive for the president. …
… Instead of immediately lashing out at the government’s statisticians on Friday, Trump took time to once again call his Jeffrey Epstein scandal “another Democrat HOAX.” He then quickly pivoted to criticizing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for refusing to lower interest rates.
Also, too:
Last year, a survey found that 36 percent of job listings were fake. Companies post fake listings to look like they are growing and farm data.
That makes me sad. It must really suck to be a job seeker right now.
This is not going to turn around as long as Trump is POTUS. Trump’s approval rating is still hovering at around 41 percent in most polls. That’s low by historic standards, but I can’t understand why it isn’t lower. But hey — here’s an actual scholarly study on what motivates Trump support, and the scholars propose that Trump’s policies are irrelevant to these people. It’s all about reclaiming status. That status may not look so hot after a few more months of this. At least, the “approval” is growing softer.
In other news — the New York Times has a story about a secret SEAL mission into North Korea that happened in Trump’s first term. It didn’t go well. We’re lucky it didn’t start a war.
Yesterday’s news was largely taken up with replays of JFK the Lesser’s ghastly Senate testimony. What a terribly damaged human being he is. I wouldn’t put him in charge of a kids’ summer camp, never mind the nation’s health. If you missed it, see let’s watch as Democratic senators rip Bobby Brainworms several new ones by Jeff Tiedrich.
And as I wrote yesterday I am once again rattling the tin cup to raise some money to pay for a dental procedure scheduled for Thursday. All help is appreciated. Here’s the gofundme link, or you can use the donate button at the top of the right-hand column to pay through PayPal,
Along with the long list of whoppers is the "up to 1500 percent" reduction in drug prices. Different analysts have scratched their heads – to be true you would have to go to Walgreens for your $100 prescription, pay nothing, and get $1400 change back. Nobody from the DC press corps has brought this to Trump's attention for some clarification. Even after the sheer stupidity of the claim was public, Trump continued to voice it.
The fact is, Trump does not care about reality. He's only concerned with perception. Reality show training. MAGA is conditioned like Pablov's puppies to reply, "Fake News" to bad news. The problem won't start to catch up with Trump until the discontinuity rocks the Fox viewer. I'd liken it to a Fox viewer being told it's sunny everywhere, walking outside into a downpour. You are wet. Your hair is wet, your clothes are drenched. "Fake News" doesn't cut it.
The economy is inevitably gonna catch up with Trump's economic mismanagement. There's no reason to think things will turn around, though they may be less bad if the recent court determination sticks and Trump doesn't have the power to lay tariffs.
Trump will get control of the Fed. He's gonna slash the prime. It will be inflationary. The Stock Market will fall – a lot. Trump's buddies will do well with the flood of money into the market. The consumer will be caught between relatively stagnant wages and skyrocketing prices. That kind of rain is hard to ignore.
The falling approval is not being discounted within the WH. That's why they want to gerrymander the hell out of everything. Newsome fighting back is crucial to remind Democrats that we're now the party of state's rights. BTW, I am running increasingly into fanatic progressives eager to do battle with the governor of CA because he's not a progressive. True, he's not. He's risking his future doing open battle with Trump. WTF is going on in your head that you want to topple Newsome because he might be perceived as heroic. First, protect and resotore Democracy with ANYONE opposing the dictatorship. (Hell, even MTG, for the moment) Later, you try to elect the most progressive slate you can assemble.
Sorry to hear about the dental woes. I'll kick something in next week. You're the best friend I never met.