MAGAThread XIX: Hambergers, Noble Prizes, & Disinfectant

[Jerzylvania]

Unemployment is going down again due to a swift reopening by president Trump, and the leftists still try to deny it

Unemployment is also going down because the labor force has lost 130,000 of its members.

Factually, I'd say more than half these decedents were receiving SSI.

[Gravlen]

Unemployment is going down again due to a swift reopening by president Trump, and the leftists still try to deny it

After two surprisingly strong months, the economy could begin shedding jobs again this month and in August, Morgan Stanley warned Friday. Many small businesses that received forgivable government loans have exhausted their funds while some larger companies are starting to thin their payrolls in preparation for a longer-than-expected downturn.

Fresh labor market weakness would represent a profound disappointment for millions of American workers and President Trump, who is eager to highlight economic progress with only a few months remaining before the November election.

“ ‘Stalling’ is the word I’m using,” said Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. macro strategist for TD Ameritrade. “But the risk there is that the numbers start turning negative again.”

Several regional Federal Reserve officials last week expressed concerns about the recovery petering out. Raphael Bostic, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, warned that economic activity “is starting to level off.” Thomas Barkin, who heads the Richmond Fed, cited “air pockets” in new business orders.

The economy did regain a total of 7.5 million jobs in May and June, faster than many economists anticipated. But that was just one-third of the number lost to the pandemic.

In a worrisome sign, more than two months after states like Georgia lifted their shelter-in-place orders, layoffs are spreading beyond companies that provide services requiring direct human contact. As disruption from the pandemic lingers, this could mean that the job loss is starting to feed on itself in a classic recessionary spiral, economists said.

Indeed, the pandemic, which marked an abrupt end to a nearly 11-year expansion, is prompting companies to rethink their operations and to trim fat that accumulated while the economy was growing. Wells Fargo, the nation’s fourth-largest bank, is drawing up plans to cut “tens of thousands” of jobs later this year, according to a Bloomberg News report.

“While the timing seems to coincide with the stalling of the economic reopening process in over 30 states, there may well be something more strategic in play — that is, pressure on a growing segment of corporate America to ‘right size’ for what increasingly looks like a longer road back to full economic recovery,” said Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, via email.

The unemployment rate never reached the Depression-caliber level of 20 percent that many economists had feared in March, topping out so far at 14.7 percent. But layoffs that initially were described as a temporary response to a health crisis are hardening into something more permanent, leaving millions of workers scrambling to regain their footing in a changed economy.

The labor market remains a ruin. First-time claims for unemployment benefits have exceeded the previously unheard of figure of 1 million for 16 consecutive weeks.

Including a new program for freelancers and gig economy workers affected by the pandemic, weekly claims are rising. Almost 33 million Americans now are collecting some form of unemployment benefits, according to Morgan Stanley.

Even allowing for some double-counting in the figures, that means nearly 20 percent of those who were working in February are now jobless, according to economist Julia Coronado, president of Macropolicy Perspectives.

It is no longer a question of returning to the pre-pandemic environment that existed as recently as four months ago, economists said. Under the remorseless influence of the pandemic, the U.S. economy is being reshaped. There will be fewer jobs in airlines, hotels, restaurants and traditional retail and more in e-commerce and technology industries.

Millions of additional layoffs could come soon from cash-strapped state and local governments, unless Congress provides additional relief, and small businesses that have exhausted their borrowing under the Paycheck Protection Program. In a survey of its members, the National Federation of Independent Business said more than half of respondents had used up their loans and 22 percent planned to lay off workers as a result.

“As owners finish using their loan, more are finding that economic conditions are unable to support current staffing levels which were previously supported by the PPP loan,” the industry group said.

None of this means that the economy is destined to repeat its sickening March plunge. But many economists expect what Rubeela Farooqi of High-Frequency Economics calls a “stop-and-go recovery” that will advance or retreat depending upon public health.

I wish I had your blind optimism, but it's clear that the Trump administrations' continued failures will have a serious long-term impact on the economy. The desperate scramble to make everything look better for the election is not helping, and fails to adress the underlying concerns.

[Rojava Free State]

Damn I just heard that Trump talked about selling Puerto Rico lmao

[Gormwood]

Damn I just heard that Trump talked about selling Puerto Rico lmao

New York Times: Trump considered selling Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, former acting Homeland Security chief says

No wonder the GOP doesn't want Puerto Rico statehood.

[Vassenor]

So ICE is now offering training to ordinary civilians on how to arrest immigrants.

Uh... why?

[Gormwood]

So ICE is now offering training to ordinary civilians on how to arrest immigrants.

Uh... why?

Encouraging Minutemen groups to act out their bigotry in a way that serves their agenda.

[The Alma Mater]

Damn I just heard that Trump talked about selling Puerto Rico lmao

New York Times: Trump considered selling Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, former acting Homeland Security chief says

No wonder the GOP doesn't want Puerto Rico statehood.

It fits with how he does business. Liquidate or bankrupt.

But this is what the American people wanted.

[Slaughter None]

New York Times: Trump considered selling Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, former acting Homeland Security chief says

No wonder the GOP doesn't want Puerto Rico statehood.

It fits with how he does business. Liquidate or bankrupt.

But this is what the American people wanted.

Yeah that's why he is a successful businessman who's a billionaire right?( Sarcasm)

[The Alma Mater]

:lol2:

It fits with how he does business. Liquidate or bankrupt.

But this is what the American people wanted.

Yeah that's why he is a successful businessman who's a billionaire right?( Sarcasm)

No, that is because daddy left him money. He has never been really succesful in business - it has even been argued that if he had just put daddies money in the bank instead of playing ceo he would have been richer today than he is.

[Juristonia]

Unemployment is going down again due to a swift reopening by president Trump, and the leftists still try to deny it

..Yeah, opening things back up is obviously going to cause more people to be at work. Literally no one has denied that.
That isn't the problem people are having with opening things back up. It's the people getting sick and dying part that rubs them the wrong way.

Weird, I know.

[Gormwood]

Trump on private border wall segment: ‘It was only done to make me look bad’

Everything unflattering that happens is apparently a conspiracy to make Trump look bad.

[The Alma Mater]

Trump on private border wall segment: ‘It was only done to make me look bad’

Everything unflattering that happens is apparently a conspiracy to make Trump look bad.

God is conspiring against Trump. Will his followers demand punishment ?

[Zurkerx]

In an attempt to shift blame on their atrocious response to COVID-19, Trump and his White House are taking aim at Fauci as he disagrees with Trump on COVID-19.

Fauci stated he hasn't talked to Trump in about two months. These officials point out Fauci's comments on masks when said back in early March that people didn't have to wear one despite the fact we lacked information regarding the virus at the time. There's also the fact Fauci has openly contradict Trump, including Trump's 99% are harmless claim (that is false btw), the fact Fauci questions hydroxychloroquine effectiveness, and jealousy: Fauci has been getting good press coverage, which irates the President. They do, however, ignore Trump's misstatements/lies as well as the surgeon general's comments that reflected Fauci's comments at the time. Essentially, it's everyone else's bu Trump's, you know the drill.

[Ifreann]

Unemployment is going down again due to a swift reopening by president Trump, and the leftists still try to deny it

Dude, people have been saying for months and months that Trump would try to open everything up as fast as possible because he cares more about things like the unemployment numbers that people's lives. We've been making jokes since a week or two into this pandemic that he and his administration are only concerned about making the lines on their graphs do up, regardless of how many people die.

---

So ICE is now offering training to ordinary civilians on how to arrest immigrants.

Uh... why?

Just Trump recruiting his blackshirts.

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

The fuck? Why are we selling Puerto Rico now Donald?

[Ifreann]

The fuck? Why are we selling Puerto Rico now Donald?

Money, obviously.

[The Alma Mater]

The fuck? Why are we selling Puerto Rico now Donald?

Because you sell unwanted assets or let them go bankrupt. It is the way of the Trump.

[Galloism]

So ICE is now offering training to ordinary civilians on how to arrest immigrants.

Uh... why?

I presume if they can get volunteers to do the work, they get additional power without additional cost.

Sort of like the Federal Flight Deck OFficer program, which has existed for 18 years.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

Greenland could buy Puerto Rico.

[Ifreann]

Greenland could buy Puerto Rico.

I think Denmark would have to buy it for them.

[Gormwood]

Uh oh, looks like Lindsey got weaned off the Trump Vodka.

Lindsey Graham says he will ask Mueller to testify before Senate Judiciary Committee

[Farnhamia]

Uh oh, looks like Lindsey got weaned off the Trump Vodka.

Lindsey Graham says he will ask Mueller to testify before Senate Judiciary Committee

Right, like this will be a friendly meeting. Trump asked for this so he'll have some chaff to throw up.

[Gormwood]

Uh oh, looks like Lindsey got weaned off the Trump Vodka.

Lindsey Graham says he will ask Mueller to testify before Senate Judiciary Committee

Right, like this will be a friendly meeting. Trump asked for this so he'll have some chaff to throw up.

At this point only the goldfish in the hardcore cultist part of his base will fall for that reliably.

[Neanderthaland]

Damn I just heard that Trump talked about selling Puerto Rico lmao

New York Times: Trump considered selling Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, former acting Homeland Security chief says

No wonder the GOP doesn't want Puerto Rico statehood.

Trade it for Greenland?

[Rojava Free State]

Unemployment is also going down because the labor force has lost 130,000 of its members.

Factually, I'd say more than half these decedents were receiving SSI.

That and/or pensions.

Let's not kid ourselves here folks. I know we're trying to be inclusive but this virus doesn't usually kill healthy young people. This thing primarily targets the old and the unhealthy. And while you can probably point to one case where some 25 year old with stage 3 asthma got covid and died, for the most part the average age of covid fatalities is well into the senior years. Many of the people this thing killed probably didn't work anymore so it didn't kill 130,000 workers. I'm not downplaying how bad this situation is. I'm just saying Jerzy is probably right.