Donald Trump's recent momentum likely got a shot in the arm from this morning's disappointing jobs report.
First, the 151,000 net new jobs created fell short of the 180,000 number economists and Wall Street were expecting. But more importantly the crucial manufacturing sector lost 14,000 jobs, confirming that yesterday's ISM report showing contraction in that sector was no fluke. Construction jobs also showed losses and wage increases for all workers fell short of expectations.
All of this falls right into the Trump campaign's overall message that the Obama economic recovery is simply mediocre and especially leaving out blue collar workers who have not seen their wages or overall economic fortunes improve as much as their white collar counterparts.
Trump has been successful in reaching out to those blue collar/hourly wage-earning voters and today's numbers will amplify his message. And the fact that Wall Street is rallying off the disappointing jobs numbers because they mean there's less chance of an interest rate hike from the Fed, blends nicely into the "Wall Street vs. Main Street" anger that both Trump and former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders began tapping into as soon as this election cycle began.
Hillary Clinton is likely to remain very silent about this jobs report. Her campaign is already trying to change the subject by announcing the launch of a "consumer response team" to "monitor" prescription drug price increases. It sounds more like some kind of official shaming and grievance squad, but it helps keep the media's focus off the still weak recovery.
The past few weeks have been a slow but steady reversal of electoral fortunes for Trump. Today's jobs report isn't a major game changer, but it keeps the ships sailing in a better direction for Trump and towards what is again looking like a tossup election.
