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U.S. Jobs, Pay Show Solid Gains in Trump's First Full Month (bloomberg.com)

Two anonymous reader share a Bloomberg report: U.S. employers added jobs at an above-average pace for a second month on outsized gains in construction and manufacturing while wage growth picked up, as the labor market continued its steady improvement in the new year. The 235,000 increase followed a 238,000 rise in January that was more than previously estimated, the best back-to-back rise since July, a Labor Department report showed Friday in Washington. The unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent, and wages grew 2.8 percent from February 2016. While unseasonably warm weather may have boosted the payrolls count, the data represent President Donald Trump's first full month in office and coincide with a surge in economic optimism following his election victory.

9 of 398 comments (clear)

  1. Re:First Month of Trump's Presidency? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Trump has been negotiating with these companies to bring forward any plans they had for expansion.

    He has been doing that since November.

    Just an anecdote. But I have been looking for a job for 8 months. Lots of cold calls lots of resumes sent out. 0 traction. 3 interviews and 100 resumes sent out. Suddenly in the past week all hell broke loose. I now have 4 interviews lined up for the next week or so. 5-10 emails a day with job descriptions. The mood is most certainly different.

  2. Re:Anemic growth is not normal by CheeseTroll · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Investors must have been absolutely *terrified* for the past 8 years, running the stock market up to record levels.

    --
    A post a day keeps productivity at bay.
  3. Wouldn't hire until Obama left? by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 2, Interesting
    May be was just all those employers, like Bill Looman, who said they wouldn't hire anyone until Obama was out of office are now hiring again:

    Bill Looman, the owner of U.S. Cranes, LLC, told a local NBC affiliate, 11Alive, that he put up signs on his company trucks stating:
    "New company policy: We are not hiring until Obama is gone"

    This link has a few photos of the signs.

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  4. Promised to make life easier for small businesses by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So what exactly did the US Government do in that first month to create all those jobs?

    It's not what they did, it's what they promised to do - which is primarily to lower the absurdly high U.S. corporate tax rate.

    Mind you, large corporations are already paying much less than the top rate. But here's the secret - all of us small and medium sized businesses without a building full of accountants WERE paying that top rate, or close to it. So the promise to lower that rate helps improve hiring from the large majority of job creation, small to medium sized businesses.... the rate lowering won't make life much different for the very largest corps since they were not paying a very high rate anyway.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  5. Re:First Month of Trump's Presidency? by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Animal spirits. Not joking.

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    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  6. Re:Anemic growth is not normal by Rockoon · · Score: 1, Interesting

    ..and the state houses and governor mansions

    I believe the figures right now are that republicans now control 3/4ths of state houses and 2/3rd of governor mansions... but I may have these two backwards.

    ..and you can thank the DNC for this, since they diverted money from local campaigns into the billion dollar fail known as the Hillary campaign. They spent over a billion dollars trying to get that witch elected in spite of the fact that the rank and file members of the party didnt want anything to do with her.

    --
    "His name was James Damore."
  7. Re:Yeah by greythax · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Ooh, nice mental gymnastics! You literally ignored an entire table of numbers to support your preconceptions, and accused someone else of ignoring reality. I wish I had some kind of award I could bestow on you.

  8. Naah... by denzacar · · Score: 2, Interesting

    More like from the 1950s...

    Except that whole "Operation Wetback" thing.
    It didn't work then, apart from causing all the civil rights issues that it did, and it would work even less now.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  9. Re:Yeah by rwa2 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Well stated, AC.

    I would add that it's a folly to dismiss Trump as stupid. He's "used car salesman" smart. There are a lot of interesting and effective negotiation tactics that are available when you can throw ethics and long-term credibility out of consideration. Trump has not only read but written Sun-Tzu Art-of-War style treatises on business dealings... how to portray yourself as rich when you are poor, stupid when you are shrewd, slow when you're moving fast. If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with bullshit sort of stuff.

    Some story I've heard quoted offhand (wish I could find the source) was about when he bought a yacht from someone. He had a minion go and thank the other guy's minions for selling it to him for a much larger price than he actually paid. The idea was to spread rumors that made it look like Trump was much richer than he actually was, and much more foolhardy with his money than he actually was, so other people would make mistakes negotiating with him later. This tactic plays well with a lot of the other numbers and statistics he makes up on the spot... he exaggerates everything he can, in order to make himself look better later. He made up that huge $4 billion figure for the Boeing Air Force One projects, so he can brag about saving a billion dollars later when it comes out closer to a more realistic figure. I think I've seen an article indicating he's already done this.

    Everything else he's been doing indicates that he's clearing the tables to maximize leverage for new negotiations -- firing all US ambassadors on day 1, threatening sky-high import/export tariffs, putting gag orders and hiring freezes on all US government agencies. It's clear that to do anything, you'll have to suck up to Trump first, and bring money and favors to secure it. But this is a standard business negotiation tactic, pull every string you can towards you first and make everyone else fight and bargain to get back the slack.

    So we can look forwards to some short term "wins". Hopefully we can keep him negotiating and dealing with our enemies, and our friends will be very understanding in the mean time.