My Cup Is Half Full; For Some, The Cup Is Half Empty; For Many, The Cup Is Unchanged -- August 29, 2019

At least for most of us, in America, we have a cup. 

Cognitive dissonance, whatever fits the journalist's worldview:

This is the one I like, but others may disagree. That's fine. Link here.

One month ago: consumer confidence surges to near-18-year high even as Fed gets ready to cut rates.

Today's jobless report, pending:

• prior: 209K
• revised: 211K
• consensus: 213K
• actual: 215K

I used to track the "magic numbers," but the data became somewhat meaningless after the mainstream media and administration economists kept changing the goalposts. The definition changes were most egregious during the "great recession." But the magic numbers before I quit posting them:

The Magic Numbers (changed with the Trump administration -- see earlier pages at the link for previous "magic numbers")

First time claims, unemployment benefits: > 250,000: economic stagnation

New jobs: < 150,000 new jobs: economic stagnation

Economists estimate the labor market needs to create about 125,000 jobs a month to keep the unemployment rate steady, though estimates vary -- Reuters.

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Word For The Day: Palaver

From the annotated Wuthering Heights, c. 2014, edited by Janet Gezari.

"Palaver": unnecessary or idle talk. English sailors learned the word from Portuguese traders on the west coast of Africa, who used the word to denote their conversations with the natives. It passed from nautical slang into colloquial use in the 18th century (1700s).