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THE HEADLINES
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FUNEMPLOYMENT RATE
It appears that approximately 96.2% of employable Americans have taken The Offspring’s advice. On Friday the Labor Department announced a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.8%. That marks the statistic’s lowest point since 2000. The last time it was lower? 1969 (*chuckles to self*).
The economy added 223k jobs in May, marking its 92nd consecutive month of expansion. And it appears that wages are finally beginning to rise. Non-supervisor wages rose 2.8% in May. Sorry, middle management.
Donny Politics DGAF about no stinkin’ “protocol.” Ahead of the release of the Labor Department’s glowing jobs report, the President tweeted that he was “looking forward” to the data. This, of course, moved markets and drew condemnation.
Water Cooler Talking Point: “According to the Labor Department, wages for Americans without a high-school diploma rose by 10% whereas those with a college degree grew 0.5% year over year. Sales of double-wides and Kid Rock Greatest Hits CDs are about to hit all-time highs.”
BEGINNER’S LUCK
Single game sports betting will become legal in Delaware starting tomorrow, June 5th. This is the biggest (and possibly only) news to come out of Delaware since the ratification of the US constitution.
It will become the first state to legalize single match gambling since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was struck down in May. The Blue Hen State did, however, have a slight head start as it has been able to take bets on NFL games, as long as they’re parlayed with two additional games.
The state that started this all, New Jersey, is not far behind in their efforts, as their lawmakers are trying to pass a bill by next week to allow taxation and regulation on sports betting.
Water Cooler Talking Point: “For the first time in its history, tourists might actually flock to Delaware. But I’m not sure that a bunch of angry, indebted sports bettors with little to lose are the kind of people the state wants roaming around.”
TREND OF THE LINE
Facebook’s “Trending” section is a dead man walking. The feature will be discontinued this week to make way for future news experiences on Facebook … that are presumably more lucrative for Zuck and Co.
According to the ‘Book, the preferred news source of your mom’s friend Gladys accounted for only 1.5% of clicks to news publishers. The company has had its fair share of issues with the news, including but not limited to creating an algorithm prone to promoting conspiracy theories.
Possible replacements for the section? The “Breaking News” tag that is currently being tested with publishers and the “Today In” feature that will prioritize local news. This will allow publishers to more prominently display hyper-local fake news.
Water Cooler Talking Point: “People who get their news from Facebook are the same kind of people who prefer their pizza from Sbarro. The worst kind of people.”
IN OTHER NEWS
- Apple is unveiling new software and other upgrades today, including a feature that helps combat phone addiction. Soon we’ll get our first look at people going through cell phone withdrawals.
- The Metropolous family is buying the makers of Necco wafers. The family recently helped revive Hostess and Chef Boyardee, but clearly saw a gap in the “chalk posing as candy” market.
- Petrobras and Samsonite are looking for new CEOs after losing theirs last week. If you’re looking for a cushy CEO job, it might be time to dust off that resume.
- Walmart is testing a new service that allows users to have items delivered within a day. Jetblack customers simply text Wally World their shopping list. The service costs $50/month and is currently invite only. This marks the first time “invite only” has been used to describe anything relating to Walmart.
- US indices were up Friday:
- DOW: +0.90%
- S&P 500: +1.08
- NASDAQ: +1.51%