The Dept. of Labor reveals [DATA HERE] initial claims for unemployment fell again last week, creating the following Reuters headline: “The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell last week in a sign of ongoing labor market strength.”   Another strong labor report, followed by another media report outlining how the results beat all economic analyst expectations; a consistent theme throughout 2019.

White House – DRIVING A RECORD-SETTING ECONOMY: The booming economy and strong labor market allow Americans of all backgrounds to find work and succeed.
♦ The current labor market revival is not a continuation of past trends, but instead a direct result of President Trump’s pro-growth policies.

• Since President Trump was elected, more than 7 million jobs have been added to our economy – surpassing the Congressional Budget Office’s predictions by 5 million jobs.
• This year, the unemployment rate has fallen to 3.5%, its lowest level in 50 years.
• Unemployment for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma have all reached record lows under President Trump.
• The President’s policies are bringing people off the sidelines and into the labor force.
• The prime age labor force has grown by 2.1 million under President Trump.
• The surge in labor demand has resulted in 7 million job openings, which outnumber job seekers by more than 1 million.
• Before President Trump took office, there had never been more recorded job openings than unemployed workers.

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Whooo-doggies, middle-class Americans spent more this holiday shopping season than any year before it.  Despite losing a week due to the late Thanksgiving holiday, total Christmas sales growth was +3.4 percent year-over-year.

(Reuters) […] The holiday shopping season is a crucial period for retailers and can account for up to 40% of annual sales. But this year, Thanksgiving, which traditionally starts the U.S. holiday shopping period, was on Nov. 28, nearly a week later than last year’s Nov. 22, leaving retailers with six fewer days to drive sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
E-commerce sales this year made up 14.6% of total retail and rose 18.8% from the 2018 period, according to Mastercard’s data tracking retail sales from Nov. 1 through Christmas Eve. Overall holiday retail sales, excluding autos, rose 3.4%.
“E-commerce sales hit a record high this year with more people doing their holiday shopping online,” said Steve Sadove, senior adviser for Mastercard.

Now watch the Reuters spin…
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Perhaps the status of the economy in China is even worse than many have suspected.  An interesting public statement from their State Council today highlights a promise by China to support jobs during their current economic downturn.

Against the backdrop of Hong Kong’s protests toward Beijing oppression, a rebellion of the people against the command authority is the single-most feared action by those in charge of government.  If the economy is in worse position than previously thought, this latest statement might explain some of Beijings’ recent trade and economic concessions.

(Reuters) – China will step up support for employment to cope with rising pressure on job security due to internal and external challenges, the cabinet said on Tuesday, as the world’s second-largest economy slows.
Simultaneous downturns in the services and manufacturing industries pose a major problem for authorities seeking to keep a lid on unemployment and prevent social unrest as economic growth decelerates to near three-decade lows.

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Jumping Ju-Ju Bones, Santa cancelled the recession!!

According to the latest data stats from last weekend, Saturday holiday shopping in the U.S. was more than $34.4 billion in sales.  That’s the largest single day in the history of U.S. retail sales.  Higher wages, record employment, low inflation, consumer confidence and economic security means more disposable income… boy howdy, these numbers are huge.
Keep in mind U.S. retail sales account for two-thirds of U.S. GDP growth. Wow:

(MSM-Bloomberg) Holiday shopping set records over the weekend, with Super Saturday sales reaching $34.4 billion, the biggest single day in U.S. retail history, according to Customer Growth Partners.
“Paced by the ‘Big Four’ mega-retailers — Walmart, Amazon, Costco and Target — Super Saturday was boosted by the best traffic our team has seen in years,” said Craig Johnson, president of the retail research firm.

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Donald J Trump was the only candidate in 2016 who knew how to use China’s panda playbook against them.  Thus, when you plant your tree in another man’s orchard, don’t be surprised when he charges you to harvest your own apples…

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will lower import tariffs on over 850 products from Jan. 1, including frozen pork and frozen avocado, the finance ministry said.
It will also further lower import tariffs on some information technology products from July 1 next year, said the ministry, in a statement on its website. (link)

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Today President Trump will be speaking at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida.  The anticipated start time is 5:00pm ET:
WH Livestream Link – Fox News Livestream Link – NBC Livestream Link

The media narrative engineers and stenographers are fully engaged, gleeful with impeachment blood-lust amid their broadcast brethren. The raw political corruption is now extreme.

Do not look away.

As we bear witness, anyone trying to convince us this entire assembly of our union is headed in the right direction, well, they might want to revisit their proximity to the 2020 election ballpark. Because they’re not just out of the city – they’re also out of the same state the election ballpark is located in….. Then again, the media know that.

However, they have no idea just how many of us there are!
David Mamet had a famous saying, essentially: …‘in order for democrats, leftists, progressives et al to continue their illogical belief systems they have to pretend not to know a lot of things’… By pretending ‘not to know’ there is no guilt, no actual connection to conscience. Denial of truth allows easier trespass.
This hate-filled Democrat ideology relies on our willingness to accept their lies, falsehoods, and scripted presentations; and then demands we grant benefit amid their seeds of doubt.
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Great interview with United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as he described the goals, objectives and outcomes of the USMCA and U.S-China Phase One agreements.
While answering a question about Wall St. journal criticism of the USMCA, Lighthizer discussed the dynamic of Wall Street -vs- Main Street as part of the bigger picture objective in the revised deal. He avoids the words “globalism” -vs- “nationalism” but the sentiment as described is there.
On China Lighthizer emphasizes the “phase one” deal is really a test to see if it is even possible to have an enforceable trade agreement between a communist state-run economy (China) and a free-market economy (U.S).

In July and August the U.S. was heading into a recession according to the media.  The Washington Post was at the forefront of the recession narrative with multiple articles predicting certain doom for the U.S. economy…. except there was a problem. All of the economic data would not support their predictions.  Things only got better.
The media gnashed their horrible teeth and stomped their horrible feet; alas Main Street continued to get stronger; wages higher, unemployment lower, and more middle-class Americans gaining strength and financial footing.  The media shouted at trees hoping and praying their predictions would soon evidence and the economy would throw itself into reverse.  Foiled again, it just never happened.  Democrats have permanent frowns.
Today the Washington Post admits defeat, informs their audience that cheering for economic collapse is futile, and states, reluctantly, the U.S. is unlikely to enter a recession:

At the same time Beijing is reportedly promising internal reforms to retain access to a vital and necessary U.S. market for Chinese goods, Beijing is threatening Germany if they block Huawei technology from their 5G network China will announce German autos are unsafe for import…. Chancellor Angela Merkel is in a pickle.

According to Bloomberg analysis, German automakers sold approximately seven million cars to China in 2018.  The Chinese Ambassador to Germany said this weekend: ” “If Germany were to take a decision that leads to Huawei’s exclusion from the German market, there will be consequences. The Chinese government will not stand idly by.”

(SCMP) […] The Chinese ambassador in Berlin has stirred up a fresh controversy over the tech giant Huawei after he threatened “consequences” if it was excluded from Germany.

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