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Payrolls surge by 304,000, smashing estimates despite government shutdown

Job growth in January shattered expectations, with nonfarm payrolls surging by 304,000, the Labor Department says.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected payrolls to rise by 170,000.
There were revisions. December’s big initially reported gain of 312,000 was knocked all the way down to 222,000, while November’s rose from 176,000 to 196,000.
The unemployment rate ticked higher to 4 percent, a level where it had last been in June, a likely effect of the shutdown, according to the department.

U.S. jobless claims dropped to lowest in 50 years

The number of Americans filing jobless claims fell to the lowest in close to 50 years last week. Based on historical trends, LPL Financial analysts argue this could signal a recession is further off than many expect.

The big picture: Jobless claims are a leading indicator, LPL Research Chief Investment Strategist John Lynch says. Historically, a 75,000–100,000 increase in claims over a 26-week period has been associated with a recession.

“The U.S. labor market remains strong and will help buoy consumer health and output growth this year,” Lynch said.

Yes, but: The data excludes 380,000 workers who went without pay because of the political impasse over President Trump’s plan to build a wall along the Mexican border.

https://amgreatness.com/2019/01/31/the-real-reason

After what seemed to be a done deal following a relatively smooth public hearing last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee now has delayed until February 7 the vote to confirm William Barr, President Trump’s nominee for attorney general. The reason, according to news reports, is lingering concerns about how Trump’s incoming attorney general would manage the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which is soon expected to conclude.

Despite Barr’s repeated assurances that he will follow Justice Department rules in his handling of Mueller’s final report, as well as a pledge to resist any attempted interference by the White House, Democrats on the committee remain unconvinced. “[Barr’s] answer was not particularly reassuring or clear as to the public disclosure of the Mueller report,” Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell earlier this week.

Democrats also have accused Barr of bias against the Mueller investigation based on a detailed memo he authored last year that objected to the special counsel’s reported interest in whether President Trump obstructed justice. Some have suggested Barr should recuse himself from the investigation, which would be a repeat of a terrible mistake made by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2017.

The committee’s vote is scheduled to take place one day before acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker testifies in front of the House Judiciary Committee on a number of topics, including the Mueller probe; Trump foes claim Whitaker should have recused himself from oversight of the investigation based on some of his past comments, even though a Justice Department ethics review cleared him of any conflicts.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/01/abortion-new-york-virginia-bills-expand-injustice/

Explicit support for abortion “all the way up to 40 weeks” is increasingly becoming a mainstream Democratic position. The quote is from Kathy Tran, a Virginia state legislator; but her bill has the support of the state’s supposedly moderate governor, Ralph Northam, who in defending it suggested that in some circumstances a full-term child should be delivered and then (at least) allowed to die.

Most Democrats still would not go as far as Northam. But Tran’s position is shared by New York Democrats, who have passed a law stipulating that abortion at any stage of pregnancy is legal so long as an abortionist says it is necessary to protect a pregnant woman’s health. The law does not claim that the pregnancy itself has to threaten her health and does not limit health to physical health. It is a restriction designed to be unenforceable, and thus also to be deceptive.

Many of the leading Democratic presidential candidates have endorsed similar federal legislation: It would wipe away any state laws that protected unborn children even late in pregnancy. Bans could remain on the books only if they included health exceptions rendering them, too, unenforceable.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/resilient-u-s-economy-fuels-january-stock-market-recovery-11548939600?mod=hp_lead_pos1

Banks and smaller companies that were among the market’s laggards last quarter have helped stocks to their best January in 30 years, a sign investors are favoring sectors tied to the U.S. economy.

Despite a modest performance from U.S. indexes Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both closed the month with their biggest January gains since the 1980s. The industrial average’s 7.2% rise was its best January performance since 1989, while the S&P’s 7.9% advance was its best start to a year since 1987.

Through Wednesday, the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index had risen 14% this month, on track for its best-ever start to a year. Meanwhile, the Russell 2000 index of small-capitalization companies—many of which are domestically focused—was heading for its best January since 1987, with a 10% advance.

The reversal shows that investors who were bracing for a sharp slowdown in U.S. economic activity have been soothed by cautious comments from the Federal Reserve, signs of strength in the labor market and data pointing to tepid inflation.

Although lukewarm economic activity in Europe and China has clouded the outlook for global growth and hurt multinational corporations reliant on trade flows, companies from banks to industrial firms have said U.S. consumer demand remains resilient. CONTINUE AT SITE

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/what-northams-walk-back-really-means/

After a disastrous interview yesterday morning on WTOP radio, Virginia governor Ralph Northam attempted some damage control that somehow muddled the situation even further. That interview, of course, dealt with a bill proposed in Virginia that would significantly loosen the state’s limits on abortion in the last three months of pregnancy. The sponsor of the legislation, Kathy Tran, conceded during questioning that her bill could permit a woman to receive an abortion even during labor.

Asked about Tran’s bill and her comment, Northam offered some thoughts that ended up touching off a firestorm: “When we talk about third-trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of obviously the mother, with the consent of the physician — more than one physician, by the way — and it’s done in cases where there may be severe deformities. There may be a fetus that’s non-viable,” he said. This was objectionable enough, but the governor went on.

“If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen,” Northam continued. “The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”

For many observers, this sounded a bit too close to possible infanticide. After Northam’s interview became the subject of scrutiny, his spokesperson offered a statement on the governor’s remarks:

Republicans in Virginia and across the country are trying to play politics with women’s health, and that is exactly why these decisions belong between a woman and her physician, not legislators, most of whom are men.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/no-shutdown-for-small-business-11548951611

Many political reporters have spent the last six weeks cataloging alleged harms to the economy from the partial government shutdown ended last week. Meanwhile outside of government, America’s small companies were ramping up their historic effort to employ new workers. That’s according to the latest National Federation of Independent Business employment survey, due out later today.

“Job creation was solid in January with a net addition of 0.33 workers per firm (including those making no change in employment), up from 0.25 in December,” reports NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg. He adds that the measurement of January’s job creation among small firms was “the best reading since July.”

While many government workers were sitting at home waiting for taxpayer dollars to start flowing again, business owners were hoping that new job applicants would start showing up at America’s small firms. “Thirty-five percent of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, down 4 points from December’s record high. Labor markets are still tight,” says Mr. Dunkelberg.

A tight labor market means higher pay for scarce workers. The NFIB economist elaborates:

The percent of business owners reporting that they increased employee compensation continued at 45 year record high levels. Thirty-six percent reported higher compensation in January, up 1 point from December and one point below September’s record high. Twenty percent planned increases in the next few months (down 4 points), predicting further gains in wages and benefits.

This welcome news that the small business economy continued to hum while parts of the government came to a halt doesn’t mean there are no clouds on the horizon. While hiring plans were still positive in January, they were less robust than in the prior period. Says Mr. Dunkelberg:

A seasonally-adjusted net 18 percent plan to create new jobs, down 5 points from December’s reading. Not seasonally adjusted, 23 percent plan to increase total employment at their firm, and 3 percent plan reductions. Job creation plans were strongest in construction (net 32 percent), and manufacturing (net 26 percent).

He adds that owners of small firms aren’t expecting much of an economic slowdown this year though he believes growth in 2019 will likely be less rapid than last year due in part to the continuing worker shortage across the U.S. economy. CONTINUE AT SITE

http://thefederalist.com/2019/01/31/pediatricians-speak-medical-professions-utter-lack-caution-trans-kids/

It seems like just yesterday the sexual revolution was focused on legal protections for same-sex couples and individuals with same-sex orientations. But once that battle was won (or lost, depending on your perspective), radicals in the LGBT movement flooded the cultural zone with new demands.

“Gay rights” became yesterday’s cause, replaced by “transgender rights.” The goal was to increase the tiny population of people with gender dysphoria and elevate their problems and demands above those of any other group.

The most troubling agenda item for the transgender radicals became the demand that dysphoric children be provided medical intervention to help their bodies mimic those of the opposite sex. Such interventions can include puberty blockers (which disrupt the natural maturation of the body), cross-sex hormones (which flood the body with hormones natural to the opposite sex), and surgery to remove healthy but unwanted reproductive organs and perhaps to craft faux organs natural to the opposite sex.

These treatments are controversial even among the “LGBs” in the LGBT alliance, in part because plentiful research demonstrates that the vast majority of children with dysphoria will outgrow it without receiving dangerous and potentially irreversible treatment. Their concerns are shared by the self-described “left-leaning, open-minded, and pro-gay rights” group youthtranscriticalprofessionals.org. These professionals warn that “policies that encourage––either directly or indirectly––such medical treatment for young people who may not be able to evaluate the risks and benefits are highly suspect, in our opinion.”

Despite the recklessness of administering such “gender-affirming treatment,” many physicians have either jumped on the bandwagon (whether out of fear, ideology, or lust for financial reward) or have kept a discreet silence lest they be targeted for apostasy. And when they join or otherwise enable the mob, lives can literally be ruined.

Presumably all physicians understand the biological reality that there are only two sexes, and that an individual cannot change his or her chromosomes to shift from one to the other. Hormone levels can be raised or lowered and mutilating surgery can be performed, but the patient is still left with a cheap (or rather, highly expensive) imitation of the real thing.

https://pjmedia.com/davidsteinberg/105-articles-cover-ilhan-omars-win-zero-cover-her-anti-semitism-finance-investigations-or-perjury-evidence/
105 Articles Cover Ilhan Omar’s Win. Zero Cover Her Anti-Semitism, Finance Investigations, or Perjury Evidence By David Steinberg November 8, 2018

Here’s a quick summary of Ilhan Omar’s controversies: Can you identify a candidate in recent memory with a more disturbing set of skeletons?

Omar has made — and defended — anti-Semitic statements that are indistinguishable from Ayatollah Khamenei’s Twitter feed.
Just weeks ago, the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board opened an investigation into her after evidence of a third major violation surfaced.
A stunning amount of evidence — official state documents, court proceedings, and time-stamped, verified social media posts from Omar’s own account — shows that Ilhan Omar may have committed multiple serious federal and state felonies. Immigration fraud, marriage fraud, many instances of perjury, tax fraud, student loan fraud, and more are implicated by the evidence.
Zero evidence has surfaced to counter any of that hard evidence.
On the contrary, Omar has been caught deleting much of it.

The media has made the following decision: Presenting Ilhan Omar as a symbol is more valuable information for the public than presenting Ilhan Omar as an individual with a remarkably troubling background. Transparently, the media has decided this is a hill to die on. Their reputations, their readers’ trust, the rule of law, and America’s struggle against anti-Semitism are secondary to pleasurable, if false, symbolism.

https://pjmedia.com/video/muslim-rep-ilhan-omar-compares-israel-to-iran/

On Tuesday, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, compared Israel to Iran and said she “chuckles” when Israel is called a democracy.

“When I see Israel institute a law that recognizes it as a Jewish state and does not recognize the other religions that are — that are living in it, and we still uphold it as a democracy in the Middle East, I almost chuckle,” Omar told Zainab Salbi on the Yahoo News show “Through Her Eyes.”

She would “chuckle … because I know that if, you know, we say — we see that in any other society we would criticize it, we would call it out. We do that to Iran, we do that to any other place that sort of upholds its religion. And I see that now happening with Saudi Arabia, and so I am aggravated truly in those contradictions.”

While Israel does indeed identify itself as a Jewish state and applies some restrictions to the practice of Judaism in order to preserve orthodoxy, it does not force non-Jews to live according to religious laws. By contrast, Iran institutes a harsh Shia interpretation of sharia (Islamic law), where a woman who leaves the house without her face veiled is subject to arrest and even torture.

Israel is not perfect, but Iran is an oppressive theocracy. Omar’s defense of the Islamic Republic as equivalent to the Israeli declaration that it is a Jewish state is disgusting.

Yet Omar has also endorsed Somalia’s new president (she is Somali-American), and days later, her brother-in-law had a job in the administration. Sharia remains the basic source for Somalia’s legal system.

Omar has suggested that Israel is an “apartheid state,” an insinuation that led many to accuse her of anti-Semitism, and photos suggest she married her brother in service of felonies.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/empire-actor-jussie-smollett-alleged-hate-crime-investigation-yields-more-questions-no-answers/

Two days after the incident, the ongoing investigation into the alleged hate crime targeting “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has raised more questions than it has answered. Pictures of two shadowy figures released last night — Chicago Police are calling them “persons of interest” — will only add to the controversy.

As I reported here at PJ Media yesterday, Smollett claims he was physically assaulted by two individuals wearing ski masks and gloves at 2 a.m. Tuesday in downtown Chicago. They allegedly shouted, “This is MAGA country,” along with other racist and anti-gay slurs. Smollett, who had just visited a Subway sandwich shop, is black and gay and had been a harsh critic of Donald Trump for years prior to his presidential campaign.

But shifting versions of the story told by Smollett have raised questions about what exactly happened.

For instance, Smollett initially was reluctant to make any kind of statement, but in his initial interview with police 45 minutes after the alleged attack, he made no mention of the MAGA claims.

When that element was reported by TMZ and other media outlets, Chicago Police denied the claim. But after contacting him a second time, Smollett expanded his version of the story to include the MAGA element.

The Associated Press reported yesterday that police have reviewed hundreds of hours of surveillance video from the heavily monitored area, but found no images of the attack. The city of Chicago operates an advanced linked network of 30,000 closed-circuit cameras around the city, the New York Times reported last May.

Last night, Chicago Police announced they had two possible persons of interest and released shadowy photos of the pair.There is no video, however, of the two individuals and Smollett ever being together. The time of the videos is between 1:30 and 1:45 a.m., at least 15 to 30 minutes before the time of the alleged attack, according to local media. CONTINUE AT SITE