Joe Biden's Economy Added 216,000 Jobs In December, Not Too Shabby!

Analysts predict a surge in Hunter Biden stories.

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It’s another first Friday of the month, and you know what that means: I once again forgot to take advantage of the 10 percent discount for shoppers over 55 at my local Albertson’s grocery yesterday. It also means that the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report is out, and it’s once again a good’un, showing that nonfarm jobs grew by 216,000 in December, and the unemployment rate stayed right where it was, at 3.7 percent. The report beat economists’ predictions, surpassing the Dow Jones forecasts of 170,000 new jobs and 3.8 percent unemployment.

For those who are keeping track, like the White House, this makes 23 consecutive months of unemployment below 4 percent, a streak of low unemployment not seen since 1969. Not that we’d trade, because there was no internet, plus all that unpleasantness in Southeast Asia. And frankly, second grade was a letdown. Another fun number: December’s report was the 36th consecutive month of job gains.

So yes, let’s say it again: The numbers are looking a heck of a lot like that “soft landing” from the inflationary spikes of last year, with jobs growing, but not so fast that the Fed is likely to raise interest rates. This is a good thing! All told, with the December report in, the economy added 2.7 million jobs in 2023, and if some Chud tries to tell you that’s just making up for job losses during the pandemic, you grab this link and point out we actually reached that number back in June 2022, and everything since has been economic gravy. Then flick their ear.

Even so, CNBC was able to find an economist who saw potential trouble ahead, because what if the landing isn’t soft enough for the Fed to start cutting interest rates quickly, huh?

“Jobs growth remains as resilient as ever, validating growing skepticism that the economy will be ready for policy rate cuts as early as March,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management. “Indeed, the recent run of labor market data generally points in one direction: strength.”

Oh no. Not strength! On the up side, you just aren’t seeing talk of an impending recession anywhere but from Republicans, who are still hoping for bad news or higher gas prices to help bring back Donald Trump.

Let’s go to the Washington Post for some other Economy Good news:

Average hourly wage growth accelerated slightly in December, rising by 4.1 percent over the previous 12 months to $34.27 an hour and continuing to beat inflation, boosting workers’ spending power.

“In many ways the labor market is at its best place it has been, not only since [before COVID], but by some measures in decades,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at accounting giant KPMG.

When real wages are ahead of inflation, that means more buying power, and the steady drops in inflation also seem to be helping with consumer confidence finally, with the Conference Board’s monthly survey showing consumer confidence at a five-month high in December.

In conclusion, the economy keeps chugging along, and that’s good, unless Republicans in the House decide things are too calm and stable, so maybe they’ll shut down the government for shits and giggles.

[Bureau of Labor Statistics / White House / CNBC / WaPo]

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