Thanks, Mr. President, for being too petty to pick the person who could bring the largest number of wayward Republicans back into the fold.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The labor market areas with the highest concentration of remote workers are the suburbs & exurbs of sunbelt cities like Atlanta, Tampa, and Austin.

In Forsyth County, GA (north of ATL) more than a third of all workers are remote.

Of the 1,004 census-designated labor market areas across the US, public transit the most common means of commuting to work in just one: Manhattan.

Nationwide, just 3% of Americans commute to work via mass transit.

Unemployment has ticked up slightly over the last year, though we remain at historically low levels. (27 consecutive months below 4%, the longest such stretch since the 1960s!) Morning Joe

One reason the Fed feels comfortable keeping rates high is that the economy remains strong. Jobs growth averaged 275K per month in 2024 Q1.

(Even April’s relative slowdown to 175K is still in line with 2018-19 growth.) Morning Joe

Between high wage growth and high spending growth, the domestic economy has a lot of demand left in it.

That’s good for workers but a challenge in the fight to tame inflation. Morning Joe

Inflation rebounded in Q1, dampening hopes of an early rate cut this year. Morning Joe

A higher Fed Funds rate means higher mortgage rates and higher yields on treasuries (increasing gov’t borrowing costs), with both measures climbing from recent lows. Morning Joe

A rebound in hot inflation data has drastically changed the outlook for interest rates in recent months, with markets expecting rates to remain higher for longer. Morning Joe

I'll be on Morning Joe in a few with an economic update – interest rates, inflation, jobs, and more.

Accounting for interest adds another $600 billion to the total.