Tipsheet

Boom: Blockbuster April Jobs Report Shocks Experts, Unemployment Falls to 3.6 Percent

Economic forecasters were surprised when 2019's first quarter GDP growth clip surpassed expectations, hitting 3.2 percent in a report published late last month.  Would the April jobs numbers put a damper on things by underwhelming the markets?  Or might it achieve or even surpass the consensus estimate of 185,000 new jobs?  This is a very big win for the US economy and workforce -- and it comes, as they so often say, "unexpectedly:"


Women weren't the only beneficiaries of this very strong performance:

The national seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for Hispanics and Latinos in the U.S. labor force fell to a record low of 4.2% in April, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released Friday show. In April, the unemployment rate for Hispanics and Latinos, aged 16 and up, was 4.2%, down from 4.7% in March – breaking the record low of 4.3% set two months earlier in February. BLS began tracking Hispanic-Latino employment data in 1973.

Some additional indicators:

The unemployment rate dropped to 3.6 percent, beating analysts' expectations of 3.8 percent. The labor force participation rate, meanwhile, was little changed at 62.8 percent, from 63 percent the month prior. Average hourly earnings – which investors were closely watching for signs of inflation – rose by 6 cents to $27.77. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by about 3.2 percent...

We're way past the "sugar high" many liberals shrugged off after the economy grew significantly in the wake of the GOP-passed tax reform law (already a vast departure from the doom and gloom many on the Left wrongly predicted). The more important question for 2020 -- with a clear majority of voters pleased with President Trump's economic job performance -- is whether this robust progress is sustainable. Some prognosticators seem to think that it is:


I'll leave you with a reminder that one of the bogus talking points used by some to pooh-pooh these great numbers is totally bunk: