The worst thing about being an incoming administration is that it isn't a clean slate. In a just and fair world, you should be able to take a firehose to every single mess your predecessor made - or is still purposefully making right up to the day they wheel his chair out - and start from fresh. Like, everything resets to the factory original neutral, and off you go.
But that ain't it, and, as our Ebola always intones like Eeyore when things go sideways, "It is what it is."
Trump and his team are inheriting a mess of epic proportions, with much of it stewing in its own juices for so long that it should be fixin' to blow as they walk through the doors.
I do not envy them in the least, but I am ever so grateful they're going to be on the job.
Probably the biggest problem to tackle is going to be the shattering effect of the brilliant various #Bidenomics schemes - as effective as the vegetable it's named for. Everyone down to the grandmother on Social Security knows what it did to inflation, despite all the repeated exhortations to the contrary.
Americans are well aware that when prices go up, they tend to stay that way and that a month's worth of 'less' inflation only meant that month's increase in price was a little less than the month before, but added to it, not taken from what was already the price on the shelf.
Sadly for the Bidenomics team, we aren't the dolts they earnestly believed we were, managing to figure all that out by ourselves and the state of our diminished wallets.
One area where such transparency didn't exist as the events transpired was in the 'strong' job market, another metric often touted to show how wrong American perceptions of the Biden economy were.
LOOK, LUDDITES - MANY JOBS MADE! LOW UNEMPLOYMENT!
Why didn't it feel like it, then?
Why weren't they diving into the figures to show how many of those jobs created were second jobs obtained in order to get by?
How many 'jobs made' were government jobs and how many did we lose in manufacturing and tech at the same time?
Over the last 12 months the US has lost jobs in 2 sectors: Manufacturing and Information Technology.
— Frog Capital (@FrogNews) December 27, 2024
I hope the Irony of wanting to block immigrant workers from jobs in manufacturing, while increasing them for tech isn't lost on people. pic.twitter.com/ef6GhaaCUa
We never heard about the revisions three months down the road, which made all the little employment miracles poof pretty much away. In August of this year, they had a massive data POOF.
Take away the government jobs 'added' and the situation becomes clear
— I.B. FineXmas...or not (@IBFine1) August 19, 2024
... we're screwed
It negated damn near every last job gain for the complete year. And they did it like it was no BFD, as POTATUS would say.
With less than a month remaining in his term now, the number massagers seem to have decided the time for smoke and mirrors was over.
For a strong economy, this was not a good report.
It may just be the only real job report in the last 3 years. They've been lying about everything.
— Traci Chadbourne (@tchadbourne2) December 26, 2024
For the incoming Trump gurus, they are going to have to get cracking.
Recurring applications for US unemployment benefits rose to the highest in more than three years, adding to signs that it is taking longer for out-of-work people to find a job.
Continuing applications, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, rose to 1.91 million in the week ended Dec. 14, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. Initial claims, meanwhile, ticked down to 219,000 in the week ended Dec. 21.
Recurring filings have been gradually trending up this year, consistent with other data showing the unemployed are having a harder time finding work.
New Jersey, California, and Connecticut had the largest continuing claims increase.
And it is taking a much longer time to score a gig because the impetus to hire is just not there.
...Last month, more than 40% of those receiving unemployment benefits had been looking for work for more than 15 weeks, per the Labor Department.
Companies are hiring workers at a sluggish pace not seen since after the Great Recession, CNBC reported earlier this month.
That doesn’t bode well for millions of employed workers seeking new jobs, either. More than 50% of U.S. workers are either actively or casually searching for a different job, a Gallup poll found in December. Just 18% of workers are “extremely satisfied” with their job, the poll found.
Then again, in classic progressive fashion, some blue states are shoving sticks in their eyes hiring-wise, even as employers struggle in tough business climates.
🚨UNEMPLOYMENT IN CALIFORNIA IS SKYROCKETING🚨
— Global Markets Investor (@GlobalMktObserv) December 26, 2024
The number of unemployed persons in California reached a whopping 1.05 MILLION, the highest in 3 years.
Unemployment has jumped by 322,000 over the last 2 years.
At the same time, the unemployment rate spiked to 5.3%.
Recession? pic.twitter.com/gNpLH6z0ZH
Why are blue states such hell-holes?
“At the same time that we’ve raised the minimum wage, I’ve been working hard to create more jobs in the state to make sure that we’ve got a competitive environment for the workers in our state.”
— Jen (@IlliniJen) December 26, 2024
Nod all you want, @GovPritzker; Illinois’ third highest unemployment rate in the… pic.twitter.com/aJWOzTtb8F
Because of the Newsoms and JB Pritzkers of the world who have supine legislatures doing their bidding.
Illinois employers are bracing for minimum-wage hikes, which may lead to more job cuts around the state.
Illinois’ minimum wage is rising from $14 per hour to $15 on Jan 1, the final increase in a series of annual increases from a law Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed in February of 2019. In addition, the minimum wage for tipped workers is increasing from $8.40 per hour to $9. The youth minimum wage, for workers under age working fewer than 650 hours per calendar year, is going up from $12 per hour to $13.
“I’m very, very proud about the work that we did to get from $8.25 to $15. That’s a big jump, and it put us in a leadership position in the Midwest for attracting great workers to the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said.
...In February 2019, when the law passed, the state’s unemployment rate was 4.8%. It’s now 5.3%, third highest in the U.S. Only Nevada (5.7%) and California (5.4%) are higher. The national unemployment rate in November was 4.1%.
I can't blame everything on blue governors - progressive cities in these states are cutting their own throats, too. As if crime and taxes weren't enough to drive business out of these cities, the minimum wage raises make sure to finish them off.
...In July of this year, Chicago raised its minimum wage to $16.20 per hour for employers with four or more employees. The minimum wage for tipped employees in Chicago is now $11.02 per hour and is eventually slated to match the minimum wage for non-tipped workers.
Chicago Bars, a social media account “working on behalf of Chicago bars, restaurants, and music joints,” commented about the announced closing of Old Town Pour House on Wells Street, posting on X, “I have never seen bar and restaurant closings coming as fast as they are right now in Chicago.”
Most of the wire reports use terms like "some softening" but "remains broadly healthy," trying to describe what's happening in the job market, and then they toss a Powell quote in as if that meant something. I don't know that it does anymore.
So Powell and the Fed have been making policy decisions based on totally false data? Figures.🤡
— Plato’s_Cave _Shadows (@False_Shadows) August 21, 2024
We are ruled by malevolent clowns.
What does mean something is the continuing proof in the data that the American consumer is under stress...
Almost 62 million Americans are maxed out on their credit cards (spent 90%+ of their credit limit).
— § (@spaethon) December 27, 2024
1 in 4 American adults.
If unemployment reaches 10%, that means over 6 million people will have zero emergency credit.
Pretty scary the situation 25% of Americans are in. pic.twitter.com/DqNvtidoyM
...and has been for some time.
When those pressures begin to ease, we'll know things are going in the right direction. You'll see people start to breathe, too.
There is so much that has to be stopped the second Trump takes office before anything can begin to straighten the mess out.
If only someone had the integrity to keep POTATUS and his handlers away from the checkbook for the next couple of weeks.
That'd be a start.
