The May jobs report was so bad that even Fox Business had to acknowledge it. It's never a rainy day in Trumpworld on Fox Business, though, and they always can find a silver lining.
The latest jobs report for May was trumpeted to increase the workforce by 185,000. However, the results were much worse than expected.The Wall Street Journal writes:
Employers tapped the brakes on hiring in May, signaling companies are taking a more cautious approach at a time of cooling global growth and trade tensions and adding to other signs of a spring slowdown in the decade-long U.S. economic expansion.
The economy added 75,000 jobs in May, marking the 104th straight month of gains, but also one of the weakest monthly gains since the recession ended, the Labor Department said Friday.
Stuart Varney was out on Friday, but co-host Ashley Webster opened up the program and delivered the bad news.
"Meanwhile, let's get back to that May jobs report. let's bring in James Freeman with the Wall Street Journal editorial board," Webster said.
He continued, "A big miss. We were hoping for about 185,000. We got 75."
Webster continued, "Is this a case of the markets, it's kind of hard to gauge the market reaction right now, but is this a case of bad news is good news because it just gives more impetus to the fed?"
(Remember, when President Obama was in office, Republicans were demanding that the Fed raise rates constantly. For Trump, somehow, though, lowering the rates is good news.)
Freeman replied, "I think that is the way to look at this reaction, people expecting they may get a rate cut as soon as this month, and getting stronger in that conviction."
But Freeman, flouting Fox Business protocol, displayed honesty for a moment. He did course-correct at the end, though.
"This was obviously a downer, a big miss, as you said, and with the revisions to previous months, but this is not a sick economy."
In Foxland, Trump is never wrong, and no matter what happens, bad news turns to wine.