4 Jun 2021
CNBC editor Rick Santelli reacted Friday to the weaker than expected jobs and unemployment numbers for the month of May.
In May, the U.S. economy added 559,000 jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 5.8%, which are both below the median forecast of 650,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 5.9%.
Santelli argued on “Squawk Box” that the extra government benefits provided by President Joe Biden and his administration as the country comes out of the coronavirus pandemic are keeping people from seeking work. He pointed to seeing 14 “Help Wanted” signs the night before in one square mile as evidence.
“[T]he labor force participation rate 61.6 that’s a bit of a disappointment because 61.7 twice post-COVID is the post-COVID high,” Santelli outlined. “And I do want to mention prior to COVID, this number was 63.3 in February of 2020.”
Trump has ended the "From the Desk of Donald J. Trump" blog. Trump launched the communications platform on May 4 as "a place to speak freely and safely."
Fed policymakers have promised to give markets plenty of notice before changing policy, to avoid a repeat of the "taper tantrum" spike in bond yields after former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke surprised markets by flagging a reduction to the Fed s bond-buying in 2013.