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Jobs Report Shows US Economy Gained 850,000 Jobs In June

The August jobs report came in lower than expected after robust hiring in June and July

Fewer and fewer Americans are filing for unemployment benefits as the economy recovers from COVID

The Labor Department reports employers added a better-than-expected 850,000 jobs to the U.S. economy in June.

Additionally:

• Average hourly earnings have risen 3.6% from a year ago, which continues the trend of the past two months.

• U.S. consumer confidence rose to 127.3 – a 16-month high.

• The stock market continues strong as the S&P 500 closed out the first half of the year at a record high of 4,297.50.

• The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Thursday that the economy was on track to recover all the jobs lost in the pandemic by the middle of next year.

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News Round-Up: June 3, 2021

Initial unemployment claims dropped below 400K for the first time since pandemic began

Initial unemployment claims dropped below 400K for the first time since pandemic began

Some news items you might have missed:

• CNBC: The labor market continues to improve as initial jobless claims fell to 385,000 last week. The last time claims were lower was the week of March 14, 2020, with 256,000. The number spiked to nearly 3 million the following week and peaked at more than 6.1 million in early April as governments across the U.S. shut down businesses in an effort to slow the coronavirus spread.

• Instinct Magazine: In honor of Pride month, the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) will stream for one week only Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City The Musical. The 2011 show will stream at Broadway On Demand’s National Theater Network.

• Edge Media: A viral video about a 73-year-old man coming out and being celebrated by his neighbor has taken the internet by storm. “My dad’s neighbour just came out as gay at 73!” reads the video’s caption. “His family aren’t supportive. So Dad did this to show him he is not alone.”

• Washington Post: U.S. prosecutors this week put a price tag for the first time on damage to the U.S. Capitol from the Jan. 6 breach — $1.5 million so far — and are asking defendants to cover some of that in plea offers. Prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington are seeking to require restitution of $2,000 in each felony case and $500 in each misdemeanor case.

• Delusional: Writing for the National Review, Charles Cooke reports, “Donald Trump does indeed believe quite genuinely that he — along with former senators David Perdue and Martha McSally — will be ‘reinstated’ to office this summer after “audits” of the 2020 elections in Arizona, Georgia, and a handful of other states have been completed.

• Twitter: The U.S. Embassy at the Vatican is flying the rainbow flag for Pride Month and a host of Republican politicians, religious right leaders, and far right media figures are losing their minds that the government would promote tolerance.

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Unemployment Claims Drop Sharply To Lowest Level Of Pandemic

The August jobs report came in lower than expected after robust hiring in June and July

Fewer and fewer Americans are filing for unemployment benefits as the economy recovers from COVID

Signs of progress as new unemployment claims dropped to their lowest level of the pandemic last week and retail sales surged 9.8% in March.

From the New York Times:

Jobless claims fell last week to their lowest level of the pandemic and the latest data on retail sales blew past expectations, renewing confidence in a dynamic economic revival.

About 613,000 people filed first-time claims for state unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, a decrease of 153,000 from the previous week.

In addition, 132,000 filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a federal program that covers freelancers, part-timers and others who do not routinely qualify for state benefits. That was a decline of 20,000 from the previous week.

Read the full article here.

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Goldman Sachs Predicts 4.1% Unemployment By End Of Year

President Joe Biden (photo via campaign)

Economists at Goldman Sachs have forecast the unemployment rate dropping to as low as 4.1 percent by the end of the year.

Via The Hill:

The research outlook suggests that as the virus recedes, many of the industries that have been stuck in limbo such as leisure and hospitality will spring back to life, and workers who have been on the sidelines will make their way back to the job market.

Ultimately, the bank forecasts that unemployment will drop to 3.2 percent by 2024. If that were to happen, it would surpass the 50-year record set in the Trump administration, notching a significant win for President Biden and boosting his chances for reelection.

But the research note also pointed out that generous unemployment benefits approved in the $1.9 trillion relief plan may play a role in pushing the recovery toward the end of the year.

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US Economy Could Recover Sooner Than Expected

US economy could recover sooner than expected

US economy could recover sooner than expected

Crediting the monetary and fiscal support provided thus far during the coronavirus pandemic, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in an interview Thursday the U.S. economy may recover to pre-pandemic levels sooner than expected.

From The Hill:

Powell said during a Thursday virtual interview that the unprecedented amount of stimulus approved by Congress and the White House, along with the Fed’s aggressive intervention, has likely prevented the U.S. from suffering deeper long-term economic damage.

The Fed chief stressed that the U.S. economy would not fully recover until the raging coronavirus pandemic is under control. Powell, however, said that a rebound to the historically low unemployment seen before COVID-19 derailed the economy could return quicker than many expected when the pandemic hit.

More than 20 million jobs were lost during March and April thanks to coronavirus-related closures. The unemployment rate skyrocketed from 3.5 percent to a staggering 14.7 percent. By December, around 10 million of those jobs had been recovered as the unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent.

That said, the Department of Labor is reporting initial jobless claims soared to 965,000 last week.

That figure is much higher than economists’ forecasts of 800,000 claims. It’s also the largest total since August 22, when the economy began a short recovery during the summer.

In related news, the U.S. economy lost 140,000 jobs in December and according to CNN “all of them were held by women.”

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Donald Trump Continues Whining As Americans Face Losing Unemployment Benefits

Donald Trump plays golf and complains on Twitter as unemployment benefits for 14 million Americans expire today

While approximately 14 million Americans are facing the expiration of their unemployment benefits today, Donald Trump is maintaining a full schedule of golf and griping about his failed reelection attempt.

Trump surprised Congress by denouncing the recent COVID relief bill which was considered a done deal after being hammered out between House and Senate leaders alongside Trump’s own Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin.

After the passage of the stimulus package, which would extend unemployment benefits for those affected by the pandemic, Donald Trump threw a grenade into the negotiations demanding $2,000 payments to eligible Americans. Democrats say they are down for the increased checks, but Republicans have said that figure is dead on arrival in the Senate.

Trump also wants legal protections for tech companies (like Twitter which has regularly tagged his tweets as ‘disinformation’) to be terminated so they can be sued.

CBS News reported that the coronavirus relief and government spending bill was being flown to Florida Thursday evening for the president to sign — or veto — should he choose to do so.

Amid his post-Christmas Twitter rant, Trump blamed Republicans for not fighting to overturn the results of the presidential election, as well as the “Justice” department and the FBI.

The Donald also attacked the Supreme Court for refusing to take a look at “absolute proof” of “massive election fraud” that allegedly took place.

Meanwhile, dozens of Team Trump lawsuits have failed in courts across the nation. Many of those challenges were ruled against by Republican-appointed judges, and even Trump appointees.

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News Round-Up: December 25, 2020

International superstar Dolly Parton (image via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Pink News: Dolly Parton wants Christian homophobes to quit shaming gays – “Judging is God’s job.”

• Instinct Magazine: President-elect Joe Biden has tapped openly gay Gautam Raghavan, who previously served as a White House staffer in the Obama administration, to serve as Deputy Director of the Office of Presidential Personnel. Raghavan will be tasked with identifying, recruiting, and vetting more than 4,000 political appointments across the federal government.

• Page Six: ‘Sex and the City’ will return to the small screen, with a limited series reboot coming to HBO Max, and would include all the original stars — except Kim Cattrall, who has repeatedly said she is not interested in returning.

• KIT212: Racist uses the n-word and pays for it. I agree with Kenneth – the guy stopped punching too soon.

• AP News: The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits last week – 803,000 – is somber evidence that the job market remains under stress nine months after the coronavirus outbreak sent the U.S. economy into recession and caused millions of layoffs. Before the virus struck, jobless claims typically numbered around 225,000 a week before shooting up to 6.9 million in early spring when the virus — and efforts to contain it — flattened the economy.

• Washington Post: Donald Trump’s latest pardons are just the final steps taken to complete the coverup of the Russia scandal. Included are GOP lawmakers who admitted to breaking the law, and convicted Blackwater contractors who killed unarmed civilians in a 2007 massacre.

• Law and Crime: Tiger King star Joe Exotic, is hoping to join the ranks of Paul Manafort and Roger Stone by landing himself a presidential pardon before Donald Trump leaves office next month. The self-described “gay, gun-toting redneck” and former Oklahoma gubernatorial candidate has dropped his lawsuit against the DOJ, telling a federal judge that he believes the president has personally received his pardon petition.

• Twitter: President-elect Joe Biden and soon-to-be First Lady Jill Biden wish everyone glad tidings on this festive holiday.

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News Round-Up: November 19, 2020

Billy Reilich (via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunks: Ellen DeGeneres’s former “gardener,” Billy Reilich (above), is masked up for COVID-19 safety telling his followers, “Here we go again.”

• KCCI: A lawsuit filed this week claims managers at a Tyson’s meatpacking plant “organized a cash buy-in, winner-take-all betting pool for supervisors and managers to wager how many employees would test positive for COVID-19.”

• Out Music: Peppermint, Mila Jam, and LaFemmeBear team up for a remake of the Sounds of Blackness “Optimistic.” The anthem aims to unite the country and rally around black Trans lives to celebrate Transgender Awareness Week this week.

Peppermint says: “The number of transgender people who’ve been murdered is higher than ever recorded. In the midst of senseless murders of black folks, in the midst of the division and the pandemic. After seeing everything that has happened in our country and our world lately and coming up on the holidays, I wanted to gather black Trans women to put out a message of solidarity and love while simultaneously shedding light on the important road ahead.”

• Reuters: New claims for unemployment jobless benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 742,000 last week, up from the 711,000 filed a week earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday. The spike in claims indicates continued challenges for the U.S. economic recovery as COVID-19 infections continue to surge across the U.S.

• AP: Two Republican canvassers in Wayne County, Michigan, initially balked at certifying the vote, and then reversed course after widespread condemnation. But after a call from Donald Trump, the two Republicans reversed AGAIN signing affidavits on Wednesday saying they believe the county vote “should not be certified.”

• Pink News: Karine Jean-Pierre could become the first out lesbian and first Black woman to be named White House press secretary. NBC’s Geoff Bennett tweeted multiple sources say Jean-Pierre is a leading contender for the high profile job.