Strong Jobs Report May Mean Fed Rate Hike
271K new jobs in October. BLS: "...the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.0 percent ... average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 9 cents to $25.20 ... Hourly earnings have risen by 2.5 percent over the year..."
Could prompt Fed to increase interest rates in December. Bloomberg: "...Federal Reserve policy makers will have only one more jobs report in hand — the November data — before their final meeting of the year on Dec. 15-16 ... One of the Fed's preconditions for raising rates is 'some further improvement' in the labor market ... Fed Chair Janet Yellen this week reinforced the view by saying December was a 'live possibility.'"
Turn toward austerity may still have led to long-term damage, says NYT's Paul Krugman: "Even countries that seem to have largely recovered from the crisis, like the United States, are far poorer than precrisis projections suggested they would be at this point ..."
TPP Text Sparks Progressive Mobilization
Battle lines drawn as TPP text released. NYT: "...opposition mainly came from the left, as an array of unions, environmental groups and public advocacy organizations that typically resist global trade agreements registered their dismay. But some businesses, like Ford Motor, also joined the emerging resistance to the Trans-Pacific Partnership ... Obama will have to rely on the Republicans who control Congress if he is to sell the legacy-making agreement ... he officially notified Congress of his intent to sign the agreement in 90 days, a period specified by law to give the House and Senate time to begin deliberating over its term..."
"Labor and Climate Groups Blast TPP," reports American Prospect: 'We now have concrete evidence that the Trans-Pacific Partnership threatens our families, our communities, and our environment,' said Sierra Club President Michael Brune ... Like Sierra, 350.org also expressed alarm at what an expanded ISDS system could do to local environmental regulations ... the International Brotherhood of Teamsters noted that the TPP includes no penalties for human trafficking, while also pointing out that Vietnam has a full five years to implement its much-touted labor policies, and that enforcement will likely be minimal."
Sen. Bernie Sanders pounces. The Hill: "Sanders ... said after the release of the text early Thursday that 'it is clear to me that the proposed agreement is not, nor has it ever been, the gold standard of trade agreements.'"
House Passes Transportation Bill
Big bipartisan vote to extend Highway Trust Fund. NYT: "The House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a multiyear highway bill that includes more than $300 billion in transportation and infrastructure programs ... President Obama, in his budget, had called for a larger, $478 billion program ... Hard-line conservative Republicans were infuriated by the provision to restart the Export-Import Bank..."
Differences with Senate need to be resolved. The Hill: "The [House] legislation authorizes highway funding for six years, but only if Congress can come up with a way to pay for the final three years ... the Senate bill includes no trigger requiring that Congress find a way to pay for the final three years ..."
Differences in offsets. NYT: "The Senate, scrounging for road-building money, voted earlier this year to reduce the Federal Reserve’s annual dividend payments to large commercial banks, saving about $17.1 billion over the next decade. The House was to follow suit, but after loud protests from the big banks, its final version of the highway bill preserves those dividends and instead requires the Fed to provide $59.5 billion over 10 years instead of putting the money into an account intended to cover potential losses ... some independent experts criticized both measures..."
Exxon Served
Exxon subpoenaed in climate science denial investigation. WSJ: "Exxon Mobil Corp. has received a subpoena from the New York attorney general’s office seeking information about the company’s research on and response to climate change over several decades, the company said Thursday."
Investigation may ensnare more oil companies. NYT: "Many oil companies have funded lobbying efforts and research on climate change, so prosecutors would most likely be able to search through vast amounts of material. The industry has also resisted pressure for years from environmental groups to warn investors of the risks that stricter limits on carbon emissions could have on their businesses..."
Climate scientists can better pinpoint which weather events are worsened by global warming. Mother Jones' Tim McDonnell: "On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a dossier of 29 ... studies ... Generally speaking, temperature-related events were more closely aligned with climate change than precipitation-related events..."
