Driving to a meeting early this morning, I decided to listen to Bloomberg for President Radio, otherwise called Bloomberg Radio. I literally started laughing in the car. The commentary offered by the bow-tied wearing talk show hosts regarded the just-released Non-Farm Payroll numbers which showed a jobs blowout of 225k vs the much lower estimates of 160k. This was an absolutely stunning report. What was so funny was how the Bloomberg for President Radio people tried to couch this as 'bad news'.
"My man-on-the-street analysis is when I walk in Starbucks and see 40 people on their laptops, I can't help but wonder why these people aren't working?" said the Bloomberg for President paid commentator. I guess they didn't teach him about self-employment at the Ivy League school he attended.
I"m paraphrasing now, "These are bad jobs, low end jobs, everyone is being forced down into the lowest paying run on the ladder," they continued.
One humorous segment offered an economist's take on the situation. When asked if she saw labor's share of the economy increasing, she immediately said 'Yes!' After that, the Bloomberg for President producer must have given her the white supremacy OK sign as she immediately changed her stance and said, "We are not seeing labor take advantage of this economy", which is of course total hogwash.
No matter how Bloomberg Radio tries to spin it, this jobs number was a monster and completely unexpected if you listen to the legacy business media.
Average Hourly Earnings (YoY) (Jan) also grew...printing at 3.1% vs consensus estimate of 3.0%.
Average Weekly Hours (Jan) printed at the estimate of 34.3.
Labor Force Participation Rate (Jan) printed at 63.4 vs 63.1 estimate.
Average Hourly Earnings (MoM) (Jan) printed at 0.2% vs 0.3% estimate.
Unemployment Rate (Jan) hit 3.6% vs 3.5% estimate.
U6 Underemployment Rate (Jan) hit 6.9% vs 6.9% estimate.
The unemployment rate rose due to more people coming into the workplace, an entirely normal phenomenon.
We'll be sure to listen to Bloomberg for more humorous comments as the Trump economy roars on in 2020 towards the election.
Subscribe to our evening newsletter to stay informed during these challenging times!!
