U.S. unemployment hits five-decade low as employers step up hiring, wages increase

105 Comments

“U.S. employers added a robust 263,000 jobs in April, suggesting that businesses have shrugged off earlier concerns that the economy might slow this year and now anticipate strong customer demand,” Christopher Rugaber reports for The Associated press. “The unemployment rate fell to a five-decade low of 3.6% from 3.8%, though that drop reflected a rise in the number of people who stopped looking for work. Average hourly pay rose 3.2% from 12 months earlier, a healthy increase that matched the increase in March.”

“‘The broader economy remains on solid footing, meaning that coming months will see continued job gains and faster wage growth,’ said Richard Moody, chief economist at Regions Financial Corp,” Rugaber reports. “Trump administration officials insisted that the job market’s gains were a result of the president’s tax cuts and deregulatory policies. ‘We have entered a very strong and durable prosperity cycle,’ said Larry Kudlow, director of the White House’s National Economic Council.”

“Stock investors welcomed Friday’s jobs data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 135 points, or 0.5%, in mid-day trading,” Rugaber reports. “American households have become more confident since the winter and are ramping up spending. Consumer spending surged in March by the most in nearly a decade. A likely factor is that steady job growth and solid wage increases have enlarged Americans’ paychecks. Businesses are also spending more freely. Orders to U.S. factories for long-lasting capital goods jumped in March by the most in eight months. That suggested that companies were buying more computers, machinery and other equipment to keep up with growing customer demand.”

“The unemployment rate for women fell last month to 3.1%, the lowest point since 1953. The rate for Latinos dropped to 4.2%, a record low since 1973, when the government began tracking the data,” Rugaber reports. “For Asians, joblessness has matched a record low of 2.2%. And the unemployment rate for veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars dropped to 1.7%, also a record low.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Rising wages, full employment, increased disposable personal income, and strong consumer spending are always good news for companies who sell coveted goods and services like Apple Inc.

In Q219, the Americas accounted for 25.6% of Apple revenue, by far the largest country/region (Europe: 13.05%, Greater China: 10.22%, Japan: 5.53%, Rest of Asia Pacific: 3.62%).

SEE ALSO:
U.S. consumer spending surges to post biggest rise in more than 9-1/2 years – April 29, 2019
U.S. economy grows by 3.2% in the first quarter, topping expectations – April 26, 2019
U.S. jobless claims at 50-year low – April 11, 2019
Billionaire CEO Benioff foresees several years of strong growth for U.S. economy – November 28, 2018
U.S. again assumes throne as world’s most competitive economy; first time since 2008 – October 17, 2018
U.S. unemployment rate hits the lowest level in nearly 50 years – October 5, 2018
How President Trump created a tremendous U.S. economic boom – September 7, 2018
U.S. economy logs best performance in nearly 4 years – August 29, 2018
Consumer confidence pops in August to highest level since October 2000 – August 29, 2018
Second-quarter U.S. GDP jumps 4.1% boosting hopes that economy is ready to break out of decade-long slumber – July 27, 2018
Dow rises as Wall Street weighs strong U.S. jobs report, Trump administration’s China tariffs – July 6, 2018
What Apple’s $100 billion buyback plan says about President Trump’s tax cuts – May 2, 2018
U.S. consumer confidence hits 14-year high – March 16, 2018

105 Comments

        3. No. It was a bunch of whiny, snively, pathetic loser racist white men that suddenly realized they are fast approaching the point where they don’t matter any more. Welcome to a brown America.

          And presidentin’ while Black really chapped your hide.

        8. It’s rough to keep winning under Trump…you can have your racial divide, minority suppressive Democratic mindset…a failed strategy for sure. Never met a happy dem…always angry and just want revenge on those really trying to improve the lives of all Americans. Looney closed minded thinking will never be a winning strategy…good luck!

        9. spare me. You just described the entire trump campaign. whiny, loser pathetic failures sniveling about how pathetic their lives were.

          You can shut up now.

        10. Citizen X, a despicable leftist who definitely does NOT represent black people.

          Just A scummy loser whose biggest claim to fame is being a loudmouth on an internet message board.

          You suckkeballz, Shyttezen X.

        13. Yes, IamSherm Obama was THE precise political divider. If you voted for the Blue Team, all in. If you voted for the Red Team, excoriated in the media. The worst president in my lifetime that achieved the impossible — making President Carter look good…

      1. Republicans appear to be turning a blind eye to the rapidly rising deficit, which is poised to surpass $1T again.

        The economy was already improving steadily when the Republicans applies tax stimulus based on borrowing $1.5T over the next ten years. There was no reason to apply such stimulus except to provide a temporary boost to the U.S. economy at the expense of the long term welfare of our nation. Where is the outrage of the Republican Party, the self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives and defender of sound fiscal policy? ….crickets…

        Out of the whole tax deal, the only part that made sense was the change in the rules to basically force the repatriation of overseas profits and avoid the buildup of such untaxed profits in the future. But the business tax rates were lowered too much, as demonstrated by the ballooning deficit. The tax cuts for the wealthy also contributed materially to the increased borrowing.

        Anyone who thinks that a long term increase in the growth rate of the U.S. economy will overcome the impact of the excessive and unnecessary tax cuts does not understand math. This was a vote-buying exercise designed to enrich the already rich. Your current President and his family benefited substantially from this tax cut.

        Congratulations – you have been screwed once again, American voter.

        Reply

        1. Yep.
          And get this. republicans forced it through n the middle of the night before thee nd of the year to give the “appearance” of a trump victory.
          They even said so. TO GIVE THE APPEARANCE OF A TRUMP VICTORY.

        5. Yes.
          Paying for 2 unfunded wars are expensive.
          Making sure the economy didn’t go down the drain is expensive.
          Making sure you didn’t end up homeless because your house was under water is expensive.
          Making sure you had healthcare is expensive.

          But you don’t have the mental capacity to understand those simple concepts. You would rather just whine and snivel as your daily defense against reality.

        8. It’s funny.
          STILL NO ONE REFUTES THE FACTS.
          just whine and snivel about me.
          Here is a free clue.
          I am smarter and more accomplished than you will ever be.

        14. “Republicans appear to be turning a blind eye to the rapidly rising deficit, which is poised to surpass $1T again.”

          KingMe and assorted clueless sycophants are turning a “blind eye” to President Obama DOUBLING the national debt in eight years more than the 43 presidents going back to Washington, COMBINED!!!

          No problem with that, partisan clueless, got it….

        15. snot gob. wandering the wilderness without his precious butt wipe to guide it. muttering, but obama. but clinton.

          It’s a one trick pony
          One trick is all it has

        1. More brainless crappe from Citizoid suX who can’t even form an effective insult. You suqque, ShytteeZen suX! You spend your life trolling people on anonymous Internet message boards because you really believe it! I’m just here for the Lulz knowing complete F-wits like you will respond to every single post pointing out your dumbosity with a heartfelt bleat of hoped for relevance, when the truth is you’re an unrepresentative F-wit with delusions of grandeur, leftist supremacy and the belief your ballz are worth something, when you’re lower than a gnat. You will respond to this because you’re very small and petty, but rest assured, a-hole, your predictable response is just you pissssing in the wind like you do every minute of every hour of every day, because it’s all you’re good at.

          Please respond ASAP to let readers know you’re a nukfuqqle of the lowest order. We await your brainless response. C’mon diqwad, show us your single brain cell leaping into action. Show us what you multiplied by the power of Internet Explorer are capable of.

    4. Once again Dork-head F2T2 is first at the post. Why do I say Dork-head? Apart from the obvious, does one have to denigrate someone (and non-factually in my opinion) to promote someone?
      I am glad unemployment is at such a low. Everyone benefits. But please, please, look at your deficit. You are strangling your kids and their kids. Its kinda like a lay away plan. Enjoy now. Pay after.

      Reply

      1. Once again Dork-head Buster can’t handle the truth.

        That said, I have to credit you for recognizing the unbeilable unemployment numbers during the Trump administration.

        TxUSER does not have your courage to admit and recognize awesome economic news…

        Reply

    5. From the article:

      “Employers added 263,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate dropping to a five-decade low of 3.6% from 3.8%, though that drop partly reflected an increase in the number of Americans who stopped looking for work.”

      Trump, like Cook, continues to surf on the trends that his predecessor left him. There has been no dramatic change in the pace of growth, or practically any other economic statistic. Just more corporate stock buybacks goosing the economy to the edge of the debt cliff.

      Reply

        2. Your the politician here. Why can’t you look at the obvious facts and see the debt climbing faster than it was under Obama? Mike is correct, this debt is not going to be easy to pay off.

    6. “The unemployment rate for women fell last month to 3.1%, the lowest point since 1953. The rate for Latinos dropped to 4.2%, a record low since 1973, when the government began tracking the data,” Rugaber reports. “For Asians, joblessness has matched a record low of 2.2%. And the unemployment rate for veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars dropped to 1.7%, also a record low.”

      Yes, President Trump policies are the gift that keeps on giving. Record numbers are astounding compared to the Obummer economy that clueless sycophants keep erroneously mention we’re great. Ah, no way Jose…

      Reply

    8. First Idiot: if you understood math, you’d realize that debt compounding makes every new president the owner of yuuuge debt increases. Trump has accelerated the debt by cutting corporate taxes without cutting spending. His debt increase will dwarf every previous president.

      Being a blind GOP hack, however, you always point to the other party to scapegoat. Tou refuse to balance the budget. And you refuse to admit that the purse strings are controlled by Congress, which has essentially been in GOP control for the last decade.

      Reply

  2. “We can all agree that AMERICA is now #1. We are the ENVY of the WORLD — and the best is yet to come!” – President Donald J. Trump

    Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

    Reply

        2. Yes, there’s more. Look at the following sequence of events from this week: Putin hosts a summit with Kim. Putin talks with Trump for an hour. Kim resumes short-range missile tests. Going to blame that on somebody who left the State Department almost eight years ago?

        3. Right on queue, the FAKE conservative Republican is PISSING on the good news ECONOMIC PARADE with more off topic meaningless deflections, your tireless Modus Operandi.

          Recall awhile back you and I debating accomplishments under President Trump and asked you to acknowledge the accomplishment of the day. You declined, saying you will compliment when an achievement is reached. You were wrong then and let’s see if the partisan stupidity continues:

          “The unemployment rate for women fell last month to 3.1%, the lowest point since 1953. The rate for Latinos dropped to 4.2%, a record low since 1973, when the government began tracking the data,” Rugaber reports. “For Asians, joblessness has matched a record low of 2.2%. And the unemployment rate for veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars dropped to 1.7%, also a record low.”

          And the MDN headline: U.S. unemployment hits five-decade low as employers step up hiring, wages increase

          So, this second redeeming effort asking you if this is the right time to FINALLY bring around the so called TX Republican to compliment President Donald J. Trump.

          Yes or No will suffice. Spare us the voluminous tedious deflections…

        4. Here’s a complement: despite his best efforts to screw up the strong economy that he inherited, Donald J. Trump has been lucky enough not to preside over a turnaround. Yet.

        5. “Here’s a complement: despite his best efforts to screw up the strong economy that he inherited, Donald J. Trump has been lucky enough not to preside over a turnaround. Yet.”

          Don’t insult my intelligence, that is NOT a compliment.

          So, you totally LOST YOUR MIND over the good news.

          Epic USER MELTDOWN that the record numbers achieved by President Trump were somehow “inherited”? LOL!!!

          You have now been downgraded from DISHONEST partisan manipulator to laughing stock! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

        6. Also just this week: The President’s handpicked lawyer Bill Barr testifies to massive Russian intervention in the 2016 election process. The President talks to Putin for an hour. The President condemns talk of “the Russian hoax.” Again, Hilary was not involved.

        7. “Also just this week: The President’s handpicked lawyer Bill Barr testifies to massive Russian intervention in the 2016 election process.”

          Massive? Show me! President Trump was TOTALLY EXONERATED and no Russian collusion was proven or recommended for indictment. So sorry, the 2.5 year and 30 million plus wasted taxpayer dollars for the partisan witch hunt did not come out as planned by the Democratic Party and the liberal media. Impeachment now exists in a galaxy far, far, away. 😆

          Certainly, I could count on you for not recognizing Trump in public media statements, in fact, several times did acknowledge Russian interference and announced his administration working on the problem.

          That said, this “massive” intervention amounted to what, exactly? No evidence of stolen elections. No evidence of a single vote changed. No evidence of a dead Russian voting. Prove me wrong.

          Breaking News for USED, all cabinet posts are “handpicked” going back to George Washington. NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! Your dishonest inference that something is wrong is petty feeding of like minded clueless sycophant trolls Gotcha, Mike, KingMe and others.

          “The President talks to Putin for an hour. The President condemns talk of “the Russian hoax.”

          Get it straight. The “Russian hoax” referred to by the president pointed out NO Trump collusion with Russia as the Mueller Report CONCLUDED.

          “Again, Hilary was not involved.”

          Again, Hillary was the source and catalyst for the paid FAKE Russian dossier that Clueless Comey referred to handpicked Mueller to begin the 2.5 year discredited Russian collusion investigation.

          Hillary, be afraid. Justice is coming. Watching Fox News at the moment and here is the headline: “HOUSE OVERSIGHT CMTE RANKING MEMBER: REP JORDAN (R-OHIO): WE NEED TO KNOW HOW THE ENTIRE RUSSIAN PROBE BEGAN.

          Hillary, I would triple your present nationwide Clinton speaking tour and raise ticket prices. Good lawyers are expensive…

        8. Trump was not exonerated, much less TOTALLY EXONERATED, of collusion. The report itself, as opposed to the Barr summary, expressly says that Mueller did not even look into “collusion,” because that is not a term with any legal significance. The report lists multiple instances in which Russians attempted to coordinate their efforts—which were criminal offenses for which many of them were indicted—with the Trump campaign, and multiple instances in which Trump campaign officials welcomed the illegal assistance. That clearly IS collusion as the man on the street understands the term.

          Because many of those individuals, including the candidate, failed to provide requested information to the investigators, Mueller was unable to put together a case for criminal conspiracy that eliminates the possibility that the proven collusion might have been merely stupid and not criminal beyond a reasonable doubt. That is hardly exoneration.

          On obstruction of justice, any fair reading of the report itself, as opposed to the summary, shows multiple instances that could have, and probably would have, led to criminal charges if the perpetrator had not been a sitting President of the United States. Barr, who has been acting more like the President’s personal lawyer than as the head of the US Department of Justice, took it upon himself to exonerate Trump when Mueller clearly refused to do so.

        9. USER, the President is Scott free and EXONERATED.

          Sorry to read you can’t handle the term like other deep state plants, the Democratic Party and the liberal media. Honest Americans use the term, certainly not you and your ilk. Bottom line: We no longer care and we do not surrender common sense to political outcome manipulators like yourself.

          Crickets:::: on Hillary, eh? Not surprised. The de facto source of Russian Collusion, Fusion GPS, uranium deals, millions of dollars of Russian Foundation money and speaking fees for hubby of a half-million dollars and not one word of criticism from the FAKE Republican, duly noted. Not one word of criticism from the liberal media (CNN, NYT, WP, AP, etc.).

          You are one very dishonest political operative, a sad existence…

        10. Excuse me, but after reading that farrago of nonsense I cannot imagine how you could know how honest Americans think about anything. You said that the President was exonerated, without citing any authority other than the suspect and his close associates. I proved that he was not exonerated by quoting the final report of an official Justice Department investigation… an investigation conducted by a Republican appointed by a Republican official who was appointed to officed by President Trump and confirmed by the Republican US Senate.

          Rather than respond to what I said, you tried to change the subject to somebody who hasn’t been in public office for over six years, and her husband who hasn’t been in office for over eighteen years.

        11. “Rather than respond to what I said, you…”

          Oh, poor baby. You don’t respond to 90% of what I said and that’s OK with you? When you get a taste of your OWN MEDICINE the haughty self righteous indignation flys off the handle continuing to deflect, deny and half-truth lie for partisan purposes.

          Let’s look at the facts:

          Fact: USER has stated he would compliment President Trump for economic accomplishments.

          Fact: USER has never complimented President Trump for many all-time record economic numbers. Your dishonesty and lack of follow through is NOTED.

          Fact: USER continues to shill for Hillary, defend her, and as far as I can tell never uttered a negative word regarding the Clinton Crime syndicate.

          Fact: USER claims to be a straight conservative Republican, yet not once has praised the president or members of his so called party leveling 99% criticism against the Republicans, while defending Democrats 99% of the time.

          Fact: USER thinks good HONEST citizens are stupid and unaware of his dishonest political manipulations.

          Fact: We have long been aware of your dishonesty for YEARS…

        12. ex·on·er·a·tion
          /iɡˌzänəˈrāSH(ə)n/

          noun
          1. the action of officially absolving someone from blame; vindication.

          Steadfast President Trump endured 2.5 years of 24/7 “BLAME” from Democrats and 92% negative coverage from the liberal media.

          Mueller concluded NO COLLUSION and no OBSTRUCTION. No charges have been filed or recommended.

          If that is not complete and total EXONERATION — nothing is!…

    2. You conflate two different things. Everyone loves full employment, but again, Trump’s sugar high has fuelled more corporate stock buybacks than infrastructure improvement and factory creation. You know it and I know it. When you look at the jobs numbers, you’ll see a lot of Baby Boomers retiring and an unprecedented percentage of millenials performing “gig economy” work for low wages and zero benefits, living with their parents and using their parents’ insurance. The whole picture matters, not just the Trump tweet.

      But to your point…. If you believe in the Constitution, it tells us that any government official that works on behalf of a foreign power or makes money in business from a foreign power is impeachable. Trump pocketing rent from foreign governments using his hotels alone is against the Constitution. If Trump was willing to release his tax records to show that he donated that money back to charity, then perhaps all would be forgiven. Candidate Trump claimed he would, but that was just another lie.

      Since Trump continues to flaunt the letter and spirit of the laws of our nation, from emoluments to campaign finance to time spent on the golf course on the taxpayer’s dime — and his defender’s only legal argument is selective quotes from Trump’s personally appointed AG who literally admitted to Congress he didn’t read the whole Mueller report … well that is tin pot dictator gamesmanship. Trump is a conman, a puppet put in place by billionaires to ensure that billionaires got their big tax breaks while the working class got pennies back. Nothing else has been done. Trump presides over the most incompetent administration in modern history.

      The feckless Dumbocrats may have decided it’s too politically painful to prosecute, but anyone with a shred of decency knows Trump’s completely unfit to hold the office of President. What Manafort and Flynn did at candidate Trump’s direct orders is offensive to democracy and cannot be defended on any moral grounds.

      Let me guess — you’d also cheer for your football team if they flagrantly violate the rules but didn’t get flagged by the paid-off official. Is that what we want for the US? A rigged oligopoly where foreign oligarchs have more input into the election than your vote?

      Reply

      1. Huh? Are you confused or just plain stupid.
        What is dogmatic about the truth.
        Here is a free clue for your simple mind.
        2010 to 2016, unemployment went from 10 % to 4%. All numbers approximate.
        For those 6 years all employment numbers were fake. That was the daily pablum right wing nut jobs spouted.
        Please try to explain how that is not dogmatic.
        Then, in 2016 when trump was appointed, the trend continued and unemployment went from 4% to 3.5%.
        SUDDENLY THE NUMBERS ARE REAL.

        Please stop embarrassing yourself spouting nonsense.
        Idiot.

        Reply

        1. That’s because we look at the participation numbers, and if you understood how unemployment numbers worked, you wouldn’t be bragging about Obama’s numbers.

          Seriously, you are so off base here it’s really disappointing that you have no clue. It kind of clouds the rest of your judgements.

        2. So lies, damn lies and statistics.
          Got it.
          Nothing wrong with my judgement.
          Funny that. I say your judgement is wrong.
          One thing you cannot do is refute the facts .

        4. Still no response to my assertion that the labor participation hasn’t changed in the last 5 years.

          Crickets…. crickets…. crickets

        5. Dude, you’re too fucking ignorant to understand anything.
          Why waste my time?
          You don’t know history, economics, foreign policy.

          Have no idea what your specialty was but hope it wasn’t in any of these fields.

          But here, knock yourself out.

          https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/labor-force-participation-rate

          Set it to the 10 year range. It will let you see better for yourself how the participation rate kept going down. This allows unemployment “numbers” to stay good. When the participation rate goes up, unless they have jobs, then the numbers look bad.

          Point is so many people gave up under Obama they were no longer counted and the unemployment number looked good.

          Nevermind….I’m wasting my time.

        6. I’ve already done that and as I stated before, the rate hasn’t really changed in the last 5 or so years.
          Nice try. In effect it has NOT changed under trump.

        7. And then there is this.

          From the article:

          “Employers added 263,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate dropping to a five-decade low of 3.6% from 3.8%, though that drop partly reflected an increase in the number of Americans who stopped looking for work.”

          So even your weak argument becomes weaker exactly for the reasons you claim President Obama failed.

      2. By the way. YOU swallowed trump. All 2.5 inches and his shrunken balls.
        Idiot.

        And yes, MDN is turning again into a political site and I won’t shut up.
        Go ahead and whine to MDN. Maybe you and gob snot (I guess buttwipe got another troll assignment) can whine and get me banned.

        Reply

      3. Jimbo: I applaud full employment.

        But again, I remind you that this is the result of 9 constant years of stability and momentum, and the last year of debt-fueled growth is going to have to be paid back by your children who currently have the highest debt of any US generation in history.

        Are you too brainwashed to admit that what I say is also true?

        Reply

        1. “But again, I remind you that this is the result of 9 constant years of stability and momentum“

          I am really getting tired of this often misrepresented FALSE NARRATIVE propagated by dumbass Democrats.

          For those who ignore history and factual reality Obama was in trouble during his re-election in 2012. Unemployment was over 8% and no president in history was re-elected with those numbers.

          But MAGICALLY days before the election the Obama government announced unemployment was 7.9% and he won re-election. This from the administration of Hillary hiding e-mails, Lois Lerner targeting conservatives, Fast and Furious government gun runners, et al.

          No Mike, the remarkable economic numbers President Trump accomplished happened as a direct result of his policies, optimistic cheerleading and tireless work ethic.

          Pay close attention: As Newt said on Fox News the other day — this has absolutely NOTHING to do with Obama.

          Get a grip…

        2. 24% return. It went down to 16% in 2017 and 11% in 2018. I cash out in 2018. retired.
          Was there some kind of point you wanted to make?

        5. Trumptard changing subject? Unbelievable!

          Everyone of all political persuasions knew a corporate tax giveaway would spike the economy. The question is why setting record budget deficits goes unnoticed y the rabid right! A strong country should not be up to its eyeballs in debt.

  9. The rise is blue-collar wages have increased, but that rate is little improved and as the graph indicates has recently fallen. Now overlay the gain by the the upper 1%, or even the the top .01% which owns over 11% of the wealth in the country, and the tax cut is making it worse. Trump continues the redistribution of wealth from the middle and working class to the wealthier classes begun by Reagan.

    Reply

  10. It’s rough to keep winning all the time with Trump! No president in history has accomplished economically what he has done in two years all the while demorates have spent two years trying to sabotage him on trumped up bogus charges wasting taxpayers dollars and getting nothing done….truly an amazing feat. The Demorats, If in power will destroy this economy and further suppress minorities with their racial political strategies. Didn’t vote for trump but will now to keep any chance of looney dems to be in charge.

    Reply

      1. I hate the constitution because it is anti-black, Pro-slavery and because I don’t understand it or actewally anything because I am a dumb dumb dumboh.

        Reply

    2. Exactly right and well said. 👍🏻

      Stick to your guns because facts are on our side. I totally ignore the juvenile verbal diarrhea and stalking bluster from the Citizen ZERO mental midget.

      He was banned before for the same practice and judging by his stalking and number of insulting posts on this thread, has not learned a damn thing.

      It is only a matter of time…

      Reply

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