In other news, House Democrats have passed a bill along party lines to restore the Voting Rights Act by requiring southern states to seek pre-clearance from the Justice Department before making changes to election law. The bill is dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled Senate, of course.
Meanwhile, Trump's son-in-law is reportedly bringing his reverse Midas touch to trade talks with China, because his Middle East peace proposal to build a Starbucks in the West Bank worked out so well.
Finally, the Labor Department says private sector employers added 254,000 jobs in November.
The unemployment rate of 3.5%, down from 3.6% in October, is back to the 2019 low and matches the lowest jobless rate since 1969. The U.S. economy needs to create about 107,000 jobs a month to keep the unemployment rate steady, according to calculations from the Atlanta Federal Reserve.
There was some thought that the November count might disappoint after ADP reported Wednesday that private payrolls rose just 67,000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, though, put that number at 254,000, with the remaining 12,000 jobs created at the government level.
I have no idea how there could be such a wide disparity -- a difference of 187,000 -- between the ADP and Labor Department numbers. It's possible ADP underestimated and Labor simultaneously overestimated and the truth is somewhere in between, but I'm sure we'll find out soon. The Labor Department figure includes auto workers who returned to work after their strike ended, but that only accounts for about 41,000 jobs. That still leaves a disparity of 146,000.
In any case, have a good weekend!