*By Carlo Versano*
What government shutdown?
Friday's jobs report showed a blockbuster 304,000 jobs were added in the month of January, despite fears that the partial government shutdown would weigh on the job market. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4 percent, as more Americans rejoined the labor pool.
"This economy is now really firing on all cylinders," said Steve Moore, distinguished visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation. "There's nothing negative about this."
Moore, an ally of President Trump who helped write the new tax law, said the pace of hiring was a testament to Trump's deregulatory policies and the tax cuts.
While Moore was surprised that the shutdown did not appear to affect hiring, he said it was proof that the federal bureaucracy is bloated and largely irrelevant to the health of the economy. If anything, Moore argued, the shutdown serves as evidence that some government agencies should shrink.
"Wouldn't this money be better spent if it just remained in the pockets of American consumers and businesses rather than flow to Washington," he asked.
The federal government employs roughly 2 million Americans, 800,000 of whom were furloughed during the shutdown.
While the January read from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was remarkable, economists also revised December's hiring down from 312,000 to 222,000.
Moore said that's still a strong number. As long as the economy can regularly create more than 200,000 jobs a month, it can remain very healthy, he said.
Meanwhile, the federal deficit is soaring and is expected to hit $1 trillion this year. The national debt is $22 trillion and counting. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office [says](https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=2018-10/54551-MBR.pdf) the tax cuts are partially to blame, as corporate tax revenues plummet.
Moore said the problem is not lower tax revenues, but runaway government spending.
The tax cuts that Moore helped design have become something of a rallying cry for Democrats. Sen. Elizabeth Warren proposed an annual "wealth tax" on the ultrarich, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez floated a marginal tax rate of 70 percent on the super rich. That proposal is widely popular, polls show.
But not for Moore.
"It's almost like a contest to see which Democrat can raise taxes the most," he said. "You don't make a country rich by making the rich poor."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/january-jobs-report-smashes-estimates).
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
