I was somewhat stunned by the employment numbers reported last Friday. 266K jobs were created in November versus an expected 186K, a 43% beat. Also, it wasn't just the impressive jobs numbers that caught my attention. YoY average hourly earnings came in higher than expected, the unemployment rate ticked back down to 3.5%, and consumer data came in better than anticipated.
I've discussed that the U.S. economy faces significant long-term issues in other articles, and some data like manufacturing is concerning. Nevertheless, and despite these concerns, the overall U.S. economy seems to