Just when you thought this week couldn’t get any better for President Donald Trump, government figures released Friday show that the administration, again, outpaced jobs expectations.
In the month of January, 225,000 jobs were added, according to Labor Department figures, far exceeding the Wall Street estimate of 158,000 jobs, CNBC reported.
Moreover, according to CNBC, the unemployment rate ticked to 3.6%, “for the right reason as the labor force participation rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 63.4%, matching its highest level since June 2013, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.”
Wages are also on the rise. “Average hourly earnings rose 3.1% over a year ago to $28.44, ahead of estimates for 3% growth,” CNBC noted. “That marked 18 consecutive months of wage gains above 3%, as the initially reported 2.9% for December was revised up to 3%.”
And necessary revisions show a jobs count boost for the months of November and December, 5,000 and 2,000 more jobs respectively.
The news comes on the heels of a slam-dunk week for the president. On Tuesday, Trump gave an optimism-infused State of the Union speech that was praised by the likes of CNN anchor Jake Tapper and CNN contributor Van Jones, both of whom lean left.
“We’ve seen the type of thing where a war hero like Tuskegee Airman Gen. McGee. That was a lovely moment,” commented Tapper. “To have a 100-year-old Tuskegee Airman there with his grandson, who wants to be in the Space Force. President Trump telling a little girl that she’s going to get a scholarship, President Trump announcing that there is a solider coming home and reuniting with his wife and children, we’ve never seen anything like that before.”
Jones tweeted of the speech: “WAKE UP, folks. The [Iowa caucus] was a debacle, followed by a strong [State of the Union] speech laying out Trump’s strategy to win – which includes going for Black voters.”
The Democrats’ reaction to the address was, arguably, also good news for Trump. For example, a CNN reporter questioned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on how “dignified” her actions were, regarding the Democratic leader ripping up her copy of Trump’s SOTU speech in front of scores of media cameras.
The moment also made for some pretty effective ads against Democrats:
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2020
Additionally, the president was acquitted in the Senate on both articles of impeachment on Wednesday.
“The Senate, having tried Donald John Trump, President of the United States, upon two articles of impeachment exhibited against him by the House of Representatives and two-thirds of the Senators present not having found him guilty of the charges contained therein,” announced Chief Justice John Roberts. “It is therefore ordered and adjudged the said Donald John Trump be, and he is hereby, acquitted of the charges in said articles.”
And as for the Democrats, they had plenty of trouble in Iowa, which is, of course, more good news for Trump.
“The Associated Press said Thursday that it is unable to declare a winner of Iowa’s Democratic caucuses,” the AP reported Thursday night, two days following the caucuses.
“[T]here is evidence the party has not accurately tabulated some of its results, including those released late Thursday that the party reported as complete. The AP’s tabulation of the party’s results are at 99% of precincts reporting, with data missing from one of 1,765 precincts, among other issues,” the report noted.
President Trump has trolled the Democrats over the troubles, suggesting the DNC is working against presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) again, adding more fuel to theories already floating around agitated Democratic voters.
Related: AP Declares No Official Democrat Winner In Iowa; Trump Has Advice On Who To Blame