Joe Scarborough Forced To Admit It: 'Man, That Is a Low Unemployment Rate'
During a week where all things Brett Kavanaugh dominated the news cycle, there was a bit of unadulterated good tidings for the Trump administration: the unemployment rate.
The unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent in September. According to the Financial Times, that’s the lowest rate in almost a half a century, since December of 1969.
That wasn’t all, either.
“Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 203,000 for the week ending Sept. 1, a drop of 10,000 from the previous week, the lowest level since December 1969, the Labor Department said on Thursday,” The Hill reported.
“The four-week moving average, which is a better indicator of where the job market is headed, was 209,500, a decrease of 2,750 from the previous week, the lowest level for this average since Dec. 6, 1969, when it was 204,500.”
Even MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, the man who claims to anyone who will listen that Donald Trump chased him from the lukewarm Republican Party he knew and loved, had to marvel at the news.
The unemployment number came in better than estimates, even though fewer jobs were created than expected (in fairness, however, August’s number was revised upward from an estimate of 201,000 to 270,000, compared with the 134,000 estimated jobs added in September vs. the 180,000 expected).
CNBC’s Dominic Chu noted to Scarborough that 201,000 jobs were added on average each month over the past year.
That inspired some awe from Scarborough: “3.7 percent,” he said. “Man, that is a low unemployment rate.”
As you can see, Mika Brzezinski wasn’t quite as giddy as her paramour.
This tremendous economic news didn’t get a lot of play during the week, particularly the fact August’s numbers were revised upward, but it’s huge news for the Trump campaign.
If anything, this was a week that saw Trump fulfill two of his promises to conservatives on the campaign trail: coming through on jobs and the judiciary.
Given the allegations against Kavanaugh and the mephitic vitriol that was injected into the confirmation process, that obviously was going to be the major news of the week. However, the economy’s strength isn’t something the media can sleep on, particularly with the midterms less than a month away.
Yes, things may look grim for the Republicans, but they look a lot less grim than they did a few weeks ago — particularly given the fact Trump is winning on two of the major issues of the campaign.
Even Joe Scarborough is impressed. That ought to tell you something.
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