THE SHOW NOTES: The Fall, More Jobs and Unemployment, & Passing The Debt Bill
Welcome! 339,000 jobs were added to the economy in May, defying expectations.
HEADLINE: Nearly 30 children reported missing in Cleveland during first 2 weeks of May - NY Post
OUCH: N.H. lawmaker switches endorsement to DeSantis after Trump attacks Kayleigh McEnany - Washington Times
$$$: California Spent $17 Billion on Homelessness. It’s Not Working. - WSJ (paywall)
NEW: Inside The Meltdown At CNN - The Atlantic
The Fall
Joe Biden took another nasty fall following a commencement address at the Air Force Academy on Thursday afternoon. After delivering a rambling speech, multiple videos appear to show Biden turning from the podium and tripping over his feet before taking a hard fall. Biden, unhurt from the event, then pointed back claiming he tripped over a sandbag.
This is not the 80-year-old’s first significant fall in recent history. In March of 2021, Biden stumbled going up the stairs of Air Force 1. In June of 2022, Biden fell off his bike in his home state of Delaware. Just last month, Biden stumbled while on a trip to Japan.
Biden’s fall reinforces the sentiment from a Washington Post poll that found only 1 in 3 Americans believe Biden is physically fit to be President. Additionally, this helps to explain fringe candidates like Robert F Kennedy Jr polling at 20% in the Democratic Primary.
The juxtaposition between the media coverage of the health of Joe Biden vs Donald Trump could not be more clear. Currently, no major publication has a piece covering the Biden fall above the fold on their websites. Meanwhile, when Trump slowly walked down a ramp in 2020, The New York Times (paywall) said the event, “raised questions about the health of Mr. Trump” while CNN speculated whether Trump was in “ill health.”
Economic Problems Or No?
For the 29th consecutive month, the US economy added jobs despite the jobless rate bumping up to 3.7%. The 339,000 new jobs added blew past market expectations of 190,000. Despite 10 consecutive rate hikes and an economy purportedly headed towards a recession, the S&P 500 is up 10% for the year and jumped again today on the news of positive jobs growth.
More jobs but more unemployment? As the economy continues to ostensibly soften, more Americans are returning to the labor force pushing the unemployment rate higher despite surprising job creation. Since unemployment rates are calculated by the number of Americans seeking work, this phenomenon has driven the unemployment rate higher despite more jobs being added to the economy.
Consumer spending remains strong despite credit card debt reaching an all-time high of nearly $1 trillion and consumers tapping into unspent COVID savings. The San Francisco Fed issued a report (paywall) last week estimating the amount of unspent COVID relief savings that remain in consumers’ pockets to be around $500 billion but will likely dwindle as the year progresses and a recession looms.
Bottom line: Becky Frankiewicz of The Manpower Group put it best by telling CNBC, “With 339,000 job openings, we’re still rewriting the rule book and the U.S. labor market continues to defy historical definitions.”
Debt Bill
The Senate passed the bipartisan debt ceiling bill that Joe Biden is expected to sign into law bringing a temporary end to a funding crisis that has gripped Washington for months. The bill - which guarantees funding through Jan. 1, 2025 - passed 63-36 following 11 failed attempts to add amendments in three hours of voting. The bill was supported by 46 Democrats and only 17 Republicans.
🔥 Trending news:
DOJ closes Pence classified documents investigation with no charges - NBC
Air Force pushes back on claim that military AI drone sim killed operator, says remarks 'taken out of context' - Fox News
US Army set to rename Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty - CNN
Georgia investigation into Trump looking into activities in other states - The Hill
Telecom stocks fall on report Amazon considers launching mobile service for Prime members - CNBC
The last days of Jeffrey Epstein - AP
TV networks battle for Republican debates - Axios
SEC to play eight conference games but eliminate divisions for 2024 season once Texas, Oklahoma join - CBS
Mexico police find 45 bags containing body parts ‘matching characteristics’ of missing call center staff - CNN
‘Every Parent Should Watch This’: Elon Musk Retweets ‘What Is A Woman?’ To His 140M Followers - Dailywire
Supreme Court Says Employer Can Sue Union for Losses Caused by Work Action - WSJ (paywall)
Market snapshot:
Trump is sure not acting like somebody who’s sure of victory.
"More jobs but more unemployment? As the economy continues to ostensibly soften, more Americans are returning to the labor force pushing the unemployment rate higher despite surprising job creation."
This always kills me. There are TWO surveys, Establishment and Household. We get the jobs created from the former, the unemployment rate from the latter. The former was good, BUT THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY WAS TERRIBLE!! And that's why the unemployment rate went up, NOT because "Americans are returning to the labor force."
The Household Survey for May showed that the labor force increased 130,000 -- a modest number; it often goes over a half million. But the Employed number actually FELL 310,000 in May. Worse, the Unemployed number ROSE 410,000! That's why the Unemployment Rate went up .3 percent, NOT because of good news.