"Good times are comin', but they're sure comin' slow..."

Dear @CNBC @NBCNews @MSNBC @ABC @CBSNews @foxnewsalert @CNN: Next time, when the jobs report itself says there is an error, please read it first before blithely reporting the false talking points of @realDonaldTrump. Actual data shows unemployment rate went UP, to 16.3%. https://t.co/awr8aYunow

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 6, 2020

Yeah, that's going to make things tougher, isn't it? Too bad the media is so slow about catching on.

President Donald Trump and his team are heralding a summer of economic recovery — a dramatic turnaround that will become the centerpiece of his pitch to voters, casting aside attention on nationwide protests and the coronavirus pandemic.

Many fellow Republicans — and Democrats burned by hopeful economic messaging a decade ago — view the coming months with far greater caution, warning about a chest-thumping declaration of victory.

That's Politico at 7 a.m. this morning; still not noticing the job numbers, which WaPo was reporting yesterday afternoon were not what Trump trumpeted (sorry), are actually bad news, not good news.

The overall unemployment, absent misclassification errors by BLS, would have been close to 20 percent in April, and just over 16 percent for May. https://t.co/xWV8wI2coV

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 6, 2020

The numbers, in the end, mean something only to politicians and political reporters and pundits.  I've seen this movie before:  the numbers may be "good," but to the unemployed, the numbers mean nothing. It's only a job that counts.  Even if the correct figure were 13.3%, it would still mean massive unemployment.  At 16.3%, it means unemployment is still getting worse, and the BLS or somebody is trying (badly) to cook the numbers to please the naked Emperor.

Either way, this doesn't end well for Trump.  I would rather it ended better for all those out of work, especially the now invisible 2.5 million who are permanently unemployed (i.e., the PPP is not bring their jobs back). But I do think the horse race is over before Biden ever got out of the gate.  Trump has broken at least two of four legs; we're just waiting for the mercy killing that puts his campaign down.  Because, clearly, he's already out of the running.

The criticism of the campaign has been no clear strategy to define Biden, just tactics, seizing on gaffes without a clear frame they’re using to define him. https://t.co/ORxplDPPjy

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 6, 2020