By David Glenn Cox
It was the Friday news dump of all Friday news dumps. The mother of all Friday news dumps. And all I could say was “Hey man, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Ghislaine Maxwell is moved from hard time prison where she belongs to Candy land prison. Where the beds are made of marshmallows and the bars are made of candy canes. Sure, that will help that old Epstein scandal go away!
It’s a home for wayward accountants and tax cheats and not designed for the class 2 felony sex traffickers. Let us not forget that Maxwell’s crimes were horrific. I bet she’s the only prisoner in Candy land jail with a twenty-year sentence and I bet she gets out first. This move means the administration is going into Zombie mode. They no longer care what the public thinks about it. They will do whatever they have to do to keep her silent or compliant.
The administration asked the court again for grand jury documents to be released but that all non-criminally charged names be redacted. They are in this up to their eyeballs. Their guilt is exposed by their strenuous half measures. Trying any pointless exercise to say “see, we aren’t trying to hide anything!” While doing their damndest to keep the president’s name out of it. But it’s like quicksand, the more they wheedle the public, struggle and stonewall. The deeper they sink and the worse the scandal becomes.
But finally, an issue comes along to take the public’s mind off Epstein and Maxwell and redirect it onto their own survival. The Bureau of Labor Statistics Report was released yesterday and the only word to describe it is “Brutal.” It was so bad the king fired the department head. You know, like firing the weatherman for letting it rain on your parade.
I first started reading the BLS back in 2008 when the world fell apart. The media gives all the important information you need to know in a thirty-second sound bite. At first, the BLS is cryptic but as you learn to navigate; it becomes a treasure trove of information they would rather not share. The king cries, “Off with his head!” I’ve seen some bad ones before, but this one is truly awful. There isn’t one good number in it. And all signs point to big trouble.
It is like getting an F on a term paper. It doesn’t mean you’re going to fail the class. It just means you’re in trouble and could fail the class. Like the feeling you get when you almost fall from a high place. Remember, we’ve already had two negative quarters. One more down quarter means we’re officially in a recession. And if Wall Street had read the report thoroughly, the reaction would have been much, much worse.
Sure, the jobs report was bad, and the downward revised job numbers were terrible, but that is just scratching the surface. It’s surface rust on the Titanic.
Let’s start with “EMPLOYMENT SITUATION SUMMARY TABLE A. Household data, seasonally adjusted.”
Civilian noninstitutional population – UP by 200,000
Civilian labor force – DOWN by 38,000
More workers, less working. New jobs up by 73,000. You can do the math.
Participation Rate (percentage of people working) DOWN by 0.1% over last month but DOWN 0.6% since last July.
EMPLOYED (The biggy) DOWN by 260,000 since last month.
The number of hours worked is only fractionally higher. It means there is no need to hire any help.
TABLE B-1 Employees on non-farm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
Good producing – DOWN by 13,000
Mining and logging -DOWN by 4,000. This is a small sector and so a large number.
Construction of buildings- DOWN by 2,900
Residential building construction- DOWN by 1,400 remember this is only for the last thirty days.
Residential specialty trade contractors- DOWN by 3,000. “Plumbers, Cabinet makers, Electricians”
Machinery manufacturing- DOWN by 3,200. This one is a dark harbinger of the future. This includes tractors and farm implements and machines to open new factories. It signals industry is banking up their fires and not planning any new ventures.
Motor Vehicles and parts – Down by 2,400 Speaks for itself.
Food Manufacturing- DOWN by 2,100 also speaks for itself.
Food and Beverage Retailers- DOWN by 1,500 things you don’t need to survive.
Sporting goods, Hobby, Musical Instruments, book and miscellaneous – DOWN by 2,000 stuff you can get by without.
Wages are basically flat, rising on average three to six dollars per week. $100 in 2015 has the value today of $75.12. Are you getting rich? Maybe you scrimped and saved for a rainy day and for your golden years. Your $400,000 is now worth $300,000. Better luck next time!
Table 1. Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U)
June 2024 to June 2025
Food- UP 3%
Meats, Poultry, Fish and Eggs- UP 5.6%
Food Away from Home- 3.8%
ENERGY – Gas prices are down but….
Electricity- UP by 5.8%
Utility (piped) gas service- UP by 14.2%
Shelter- UP by 3.8%
Motor Vehicle Insurance- UP by 6.1%
It is a report as dark as pitch, so it is not surprising King Donald flew off the handle. But as bad as it is, it can only get worse. As the tariffs have just started to kick in. The pointless trade war with Canada will make the next report look much worse. Fun Fact: we trade more with Canada than with Germany, Japan and South Korea combined. So, add 35% to the next BLS report.
It’s not as if we’ve struck the iceberg yet, but it’s definitely coming into view. But the king has come up with a novel answer. Fire the guy who came up with these bad numbers! And see, the BLS is the third rail. If King Trump tries to strangle the BLS, Wall Street will have a shit fit. And to the new head of the BLS I say, “Good luck!” But don’t unpack your things in your new office right away. Your tenure might be short. Maybe only thirty days!
It’s a picture of a disaster. Nearly every number moving the wrong direction without a bright light or redeeming number anywhere to be seen. Crop futures prices falling across the board. The Administration will become the Zombie Presidency. Ignoring the truth and ignoring the public. Calling bad numbers good numbers. A staggering, blathering Zombie surrounded by his handlers and enablers. With a rubber stamp rump congress facing the off-year elections with trepidation. Their only plan for survival is redistricting, but even that might not help.
In another eighteen months of Zombienomics, we might remember this time as the good old days.
“Republicans approve of the American farmer, but they are willing to help him go broke. They stand four-square for the American home–but not for housing. They are strong for labor–but they are stronger for restricting labor’s rights. They favor minimum wage–the smaller the minimum wage the better. They endorse educational opportunity for all–but they won’t spend money for teachers or for schools. They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine–for people who can afford them. They consider electrical power a great blessing–but only when the private power companies get their rake-off. They think American standard of living is a fine thing–so long as it doesn’t spread to all the people. And they admire of Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it.” ― Harry S. Truman
Thank you, for reading and supporting “This Carbon-Based Life” A little slice of truth in a big corporate lie.
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