August 05, 2022 09:33 AM UTC

Jobs Report A Warning For Republicans Betting Against America

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Washington Post reports this morning, new unemployment figures from the Department of Labor blew away the expectations of analysis, with the economy adding over 500,000 new jobs in the month of July:

The unemployment rate edged down to 3.5 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, reaching its lowest point since February 2020, tying for the lowest rate since 1969. [Pols emphasis]

The job market has now more than recovered its pandemic losses, building confidence that a red-hot labor market can persevere as other parts of the economy sour, affording workers historic wage gains and more leverage at their jobs…

“This report is a fantastic sign for the labor market,” said Julia Pollak, labor economist at ZipRecruiter. “There’s plenty of indication that inflation is coming down. Gas prices are coming down. Inventory levels are rising. It looks like we can manage to get inflation under control without halting job market recovery. There’s reason to think the labor market can weather the storm.”

The June jobs report was also revised upward to 398,000, up from 372,000, showing the continued momentum for job growth this summer.

These new jobs numbers are so good that Fox News was forced to engage in some of the craziest chyron acrobatics we’ve ever seen–and Fox News has of course had some amazingly deceptive chyrons over the years:

lol

here’s how Fox News is currently covering the latest blockbuster jobs report — that the White House “misses forecast” because they anticipated it being lower pic.twitter.com/sngFes3UgX

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) August 5, 2022

Fox told its viewers the White House ‘missed the forecast,’ then downplayed that they did so by crushing it.

Fox News’ desperate attempt to spin an unassailably positive development for the U.S. economy is a symptom of the problem that Republicans face hyping negativity about the economy for electoral advantage in November. To the extent that this doom and gloom becomes unsupported by public perception, which today’s strong jobs numbers help greatly in accomplishing, Republicans are going to find themselves disparaging the economic recovery everyone claims to want–and that’s a terrible platform to run for office on. In Colorado, this is especially a danger to Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe O’Dea, for whom economic angst is basically his only remaining message having triangulated away conservative support on a range of social issues.

Today, what’s good news for America is bad news for Republicans. Yes, it’s a pendulum that swings.

But if you’re hopeful for America’s future today, you’re not on the side of Joe O’Dea.