On The Money: Economy adds 250K jobs in October | Trump confident on trade deal with China | Trump to reimpose all Iran nuke sanctions | 8 nations to get oil waivers | SEC subpoenaed Tesla over Model 3 production
Happy Friday and welcome back to On The Money. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.
See something I missed? Let me know at slane@digital-staging.thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N.
Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@digital-staging.thehill.com, vneedham@digital-staging.thehill.com, njagoda@digital-staging.thehill.com and nelis@digital-staging.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane, @VickofTheHill, @NJagoda and @NivElis.
THE BIG DEAL–Economy adds 250K jobs in October: The U.S. economy added 250,000 jobs in October, well above estimates, as the labor market maintains its momentum ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
The unemployment rate held at 3.7 percent, the lowest level since December 1969, the Labor Department reported on Friday.
Wages rose 3.1 percent, the first time since April of 2009 that growth has topped 3 percent.
The strength of the job market gives President Trump and Republicans a welcome talking point four days out from Election Day. The Hill’s Vicki Needham breaks down the numbers here.
Reactions:
- “Wow! The U.S. added 250,000 Jobs in October – and this was despite the hurricanes. Unemployment at 3.7%. Wages UP! These are incredible numbers. Keep it going, Vote Republican!” — President Trump
- “The U.S. labor market is in excellent shape in October.” — Bill Adams, PNC senior economist.
- “I’m not seeing anything bad in this jobs report.” — Jason Furman, the former head of the Council of Economic Advisers under Obama.
- “The numbers released today show U.S. manufacturers continue to grow and hire despite facing challenges, including a massive worker shortage and global uncertainty.” — Chad Moutray, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers.
LEADING THE DAY
Trump confident on reaching trade deal with China: President Trump on Friday expressed confidence he could reach a trade agreement with China during upcoming talks with President Xi Jinping.
“I think we’ll make a deal with China,” Trump told reporters at the White House before leaving for a weekend of campaign rallies.
The president said he plans to have dinner with Xi later this month at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina, where he said the two leaders would attempt to settle their escalating trade dispute.
“We’re getting much closer to doing something,” the president said. “They very much want to make a deal.”
The leaders’ meeting would be their first since the U.S. and China have imposed billions of dollars of tariffs on each other’s imports, triggering fears of an all-out trade war that could dampen the world economy.
Any deal would have to be “a good deal for the United States” and a “fair deal” for both countries, Trump said. The Hill’s Jordan Fabian has more here.
Not so fast: Trump’s latest comments followed a phone conversation with Xi on Thursday, after which the U.S. president voiced his optimism about a potential agreement.
Bloomberg reported on Friday that after the phone call, Trump asked Cabinet officials to throw together the terms for a trade deal with China ahead of his meeting with Xi.
But top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow downplayed the notion a deal with China is imminent and said Trump had not made such a request.
“We’re doing a normal, routine run-through of things that we’ve already put together and normal preparation,” Kudlow told CNBC. “We’re not on the cusp of a deal.”
Trump to reimpose all nuclear sanctions on Iran: The Trump administration plans to reimpose the last set of sanctions lifted under the Iran nuclear deal early next week, administration officials announced Friday.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed in a call with reporters that the administration will grant waivers to eight “jurisdictions” when it reimposes oil and gas sanctions on Monday.
“This part of the campaign about which we’re speaking today is simple: It is aimed at depriving the regime of the revenues that it uses to spread death and destruction around the world,” Pompeo said.
“We expect to issue some temporary allotments to eight jurisdictions, but only because they have demonstrated significant reductions in crude oil and cooperation on many other fronts and have made important moves toward getting to zero crude oil importation.” The Hill’s Rebecca Kheel has the story.
Tesla reveals SEC subpoenaed company over Model 3 production goals: Tesla said in its most recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that the federal agency subpoenaed the company over its Model 3 production goals.
The tech and transportation company has missed its stated goals for ramped-up production of its most affordable car, which costs $46,000, up from the previous $35,000 price tag.
The company has not met its goal of manufacturing 5,000 Model 3 sedans a week, but it turned a profit during the third quarter.
Tesla also revealed in its filing that it had been investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Department of Justice and various state agencies.
The disclosure follows an SEC investigation of Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier this year over his claims that he had secured funding to take his company private at $420 a share. The Hill’s Ali Breland has more here.
GOOD TO KNOW
- Former CFPB Director Richard Cordray, the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor, holds a 5-point lead over GOP opponent Mike DeWine, according to a poll released Friday.
- The image-sharing app Instagram is becoming a home for hate speech and hoaxes, even as its parent company Facebook works to stamp out troublesome content ahead of the midterms.
- A federal judge in Maryland on Friday rejected President Trump’s latest request to put a lawsuit on hold that alleges he violated the Constitution by doing business with foreign governments while in office.
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Thursday that minimum wage jobs in the U.S. today do not “permit a family to survive.”
- HBO said Friday that they would prefer for President Trump not to “misappropriate” the slogan for its hit show “Game of Thrones” to promote his administration’s agenda.
- Energy Secretary Rick Perry will visit Ukraine and Poland next week as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to entice the two countries into pursuing alternatives to buying coal and natural gas from Russia.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed..