‘Unbelievably Good!’ CNBC Anchor Gushes About ‘Historically Low’ Unemployment in New Jobs Report
CNBC anchor Rick Santelli gushed over a December jobs report that saw the unemployment rate tick down to a number he called “historically unbelievably good!”
Friday morning saw the release of a new jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that showed cooling but still sizable job growth and a reduction in the unemployment rate:
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 223,000 in December, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, health care, construction, and social assistance.
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The unemployment rate edged down to 3.5 percent in December and has remained in a narrow range of 3.5 percent to 3.7 percent since March. The number of unemployed persons edged down to 5.7 million in December.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for Whites fell to 3.0 percent in December. The jobless rates for adult men (3.1 percent), adult women (3.2 percent), teenagers (10.4 percent), Blacks (5.7 percent), Asians (2.4 percent), and Hispanics (4.1 percent) showed little or no change over the month.
On Friday’s edition of CNBC’s Squawk Box, Santelli reported the numbers, and gushed about the low unemployment — while also pointing out that the Fed might be looking for a cooler jobs report:
JOE KERNAN: Okay, great. It’s time for the December jobs report. And Rick, you can give it to us and then pretend that I may ask you to weigh in as well after the number. Good. I see.
RICK SANTELLI: Not a problem, Joe. Of course. We’re waiting. Here we go! The jobs creation for the month of December 223,000! 223,000, we continue to see these numbers get closer and closer to 200. But historically, these are still good numbers. And if we look at manufacturing payrolls, manufacturing payrolls increase about 8,000 darn close to expectations, 3.5% on the unemployment rate, 3.5%. That equals the best levels we’ve seen post-Covid. Historically, unbelievably good! And of course, if you’re looking at the Fed, maybe it’s unbelievably bad in that twisted relationship we now have due to the Fed raising rates, trying to slow down the economy.
Watch above via CNBC.
