Job growth falls short of expectations in November: 155,000 payrolls created vs 198,000 estimate

Source: CNBC

Job growth slowed in November amid fears that economic growth is losing steam.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 155,000 for the month while the unemployment rate again held at 3.7 percent, its lowest since 1969, the Labor Department reported Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting payroll growth of 198,000 and the jobless rate to hold steady.

Average hourly earnings, a closely watched sign of whether inflation pressures are building, again rose at a 3.1 percent pace from a year ago. The monthly earnings gain of 0.2 percent fell short of estimates for a 0.3 percent increase. The average work week edged lower by 0.1 hours to 34.4 hours.

Stock futures turned positive following the weak report as traders bet it may mean the Federal Reserve is less aggressive next year on rate hikes.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/07/us-created-155000-jobs-in-november-vs-198000-expected.html

I'm Dreaming of A White Christmas (The Drifters!)

Okay, hit it, guys!

Trump is acting sort of like a normal Pesident in making nice w/the Bush family.

I think he sees it's in HIS best interests.

He needs to make nicey nicey, after attacking their family and calling them names for years, because he sees the end of the road of the Presidency, and yikes, he will be a member of a very small group of VIPs....former Presidents. As it stood, none of them would accept him, and possibly only Jimmy Carter would have spoken to him.

He needs and wants to make nicey nicey, because G W helped him get Kavanaugh seated on the bench.

He needs to make nicey nicey, because he sees the end of his Presidency and the vulgar legacy he will leave behind, where he insulted and regaled against military heroes, prior Presidents from his own party, and just about everyone else whose legacy threatened to top his.

He needs to make nicey nicey, because he doesn't want to be excluded from another funeral of another VIP.

He needs to make nicey nicey, because he doesn't need another negative scandal, when he's buried in scandals already.

The Bushes didn't endorse Trump for President. In fact, it's reported that Papa Bush voted for Clinton. George W and Laura voted for neither Clinton nor Trump. Trump has attacked the Bushes for anything and everything, and of course, Jeb Bush personally. Maybe one day will pass by without a disgusting, negative statement or tweet by Trump. Maybe.

Donny Deutsche on MSNBC said Trump's been owned by the Russians since the '90s.

Donny Deutsche is a friend of Cohens and has been speaking w/him throughout Cohen's legal troubles. About Cohen's statements in court today, he said that Cohen feels proud and relieved. He feels better being on the "right" side and talking straight.

But the most interesting thing he said is that in the 1990s, Trump was in serious financial trouble. Then all of a sudden Trump's luxury suites at his properties were filled with rich Russians, and Trump's finances improved. Deutsche said that Trump has been owned by the Russians ever since then.

He also said that all of this that's been going on, all of it, is about the money. It's "just business." That's what all of this is about.

Remember the statement by Deep Throat in the movie All the President's Men? He told Woodward (Robert Redford) to "follow the money." Seems that history is holding true.

And look who Rosenstein appointed as Special Counsel. Mueller, who soon hired an expert on following money around the world: Andrew Weissmann.

Weissman: Headed up the Enron Task Force 2002-2005, leading to prosecutions of 34 people, incl. Chairman Kenneth Lay & CEO Jeff Skilling. He spent 15 years as a federal prosecutor in the eastern district of New York, where he specialized in prosecuting mafia members and bosses from the Colombo, Gambino, and Genovese families. He's an expert at following the money. "Who knows what they will find, but if there is something to be found, he will find it," Emily Pierce, a former DOJ spokeswoman under the Obama administration, told Politico." He's an expert in fraud and foreign bribery.

Mueller added another experit in foreign bribery in August 2018: Greg Andres. Oversaw prosecution of Texas financier who ran an $8 Billion Dollar Ponzi scheme. He has prosecuted organized crime, incl. several members of the Bonanno. He's also worked on white collar crime defense.
https://www.businessinsider.com/lawyers-robert-mueller-hired-for-the-trump-russia-investigation-2017-6#andrew-goldstein-10

Wow. Mueller has others with experience on money laundering, white collar crimes, and even terrorism. Whatever has gone on with the Trump team, these guys are well equipped to find it. And now, with the help coming in January from the House, as backup, it seems like we may get to the bottom of things.

Traveling Wilburys: And the walls came down...all the way to hell.

CA co. Broadcom is laying off 119 employees in January. Layoffs will be permanent.

Trump's life expectancy and health

In looking up life expectancies for Social Security, for funsies I looked up Trump's. He was born in 1946 and is obese. The LE for male born in 1946 is about 73. Being morbidly obese would decrease that by maybe 8 years, I read. But let's say he wasn't this obese a few years ago. If you take off 5 for being obese, that's 68. He's 72. BUT, genetics being a strong influence, it matters that his father lived to 95 (that's very long for someone born in 1905), and his mother lived to 88 (again, longer lifespan than avg for someone born in 1912).

I just thought it was interesting. A President's health is of concern when they get past 70 years old. It was with Reagan. I think Trump is possibly diabetic. Remember that press statement he made not long ago where he slurred his words so much that people were suspecting he was on medication or something? Low blood sugar can cause you to slur your words. Coupled with his obesity, and the fact that he doesn't seem to eat a healthy diet, I think could mean he may be diabetic. (I don't think diabetes makes you sniff, though, the way he sniffs.) He does get activity through golfing, though.

No matter what we're going thru now, at least we don't have to deal w/Obama's scandals anymore.

The tan suit. OMG, the tan suit. You can tell by Peter King's angry expression what he thought the tan suit meant, when he expressed on CNN the seriousness of the scandal. There were over 30,000 tweets the day that Obama wore the tan suit.

Current Full List of U S House Democratic Flips (37) (and Senate Flips)

Have You Ever Seen the Rain? John Fogerty