She tried. Oh, how she tried but she just couldn't pull it off. I mean, how do you spin negativity on a great July Jobs report that revealed unemployment had fallen to a mere 3.9% rate?
Sara Eisen, the co-host of CNBC's Squawk on the Street lamely attempted on Friday to see dark tidings in the bright report but even she had to concede that overall things looked good in the economy. So why her negativity? Could it have been that she wanted to spare the feelings of Mika Brzezinski to whom she was delivering her report on Morning Joe? Reporting positive news on the booming economy under President Donald Trump could run the risk of causing poor Mika's head to explode.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: How many jobs were added last month?
SARAH EISEN: 157,000 which is somewhat healthy but also disappointing. Economists we're looking for a number, Mika, of around 190,000 so this does mark a slowdown in the pace of hiring that we've seen. Just as far as some of the other headlines here which are also somewhat healthy. Just an okay kind of number.
Eh! Only somewhat healthy but also disappointing. That is Eisen's prelude to being forced to concede the actual rate of unemployment which is about to come.
The unemployment rate did tick down, that's good, to 3.9% from 4% right around that 18 year low of 3.8% that we hit back in May. So 3.9% unemployment rate.
See, that didn't hurt so much when you reported on the unemployment rate. Of course, Sara still has to spin a bit more negativity on the economic boom by micro analyzing a stat:
Wages, which of course are very important, rising 2.7 percent from last year. That's what economists were looking for. It's not the 3% robust number that we want to see with this pace of hiring in this level of unemployment rate. You would expect to see bigger wage gains for employees. We want to get near that 3% level.
GASP! Wages failed by .3 percent to reach the 3% level? That statistical blip tosses cold water on what could have been an impressive report on wage increases.
Finally, the overwhelming evidence of a booming economy forced Eisen to bow to reality with an analysis that was sure to sadden poor Mika:
224,000 on average jobs have been created each month this year. That's better than the pace of 2017, Mika, and it's impressive for this stage of an economic recovery.
Mika? Mika? Smelling salts over here!
