Axios PM: 🚀 Recovery needs rocket fuel — Christmas movies arrive — The McRib theory

1 big thing: The recovery needs rocket fuel | Friday, December 04, 2020

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Facebook   Axios PM By Mike Allen ·Dec 04, 2020 Good afternoon: Today's PM — edited by Justin Green — is 550 words, a 2-minute read. 📺 On Monday's Season 3 finale of "Axios on HBO," HHS Secretary Alex Azar tells me that the U.S. government's "aggressive efforts" to respond to the pandemic "saved hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives." Don't miss the tense pushback that follows. The current U.S. death toll is nearly 277,000. (Clip)  ⚡️ Situational awareness: The CDC is urging "universal face mask use" for the first time. Go deeper.     1 big thing: The recovery needs rocket fuel Data: BLS. Chart: Axios Visuals Today's deeply disappointing jobs report should light a fire under Congress, which has dithered despite signs the economy is struggling to kick back into gear. President-elect Biden just said in Wilmington that he supports another round of $1,200 checks. Why it matters: Lawmakers need to pass a funding bill — which they plan to pair with a stimulus deal — by next Friday to avert a government shutdown. Today's jobs report: 245,000. Last month's jobs report: 610,000. 400,000 people dropped out of the labor force last month. America has 9.8 million fewer jobs than in February. Between the lines: Republican and Democratic leaders are sounding more optimistic that Congress has a shot at passing coronavirus stimulus in the near future, reports Axios' Alayna Treene. But Treene tells me she feels like a broken record every time she has to warn there is still a lot of skepticism from lawmakers across Congress. The parties are still far apart on some of the package's key priorities, mainly more money for state and local aid and widespread liability protections. A promising sign: Many Senate Republicans who have balked at a high price tag for the deal, like John Thune and Lindsey Graham, said they are open to supporting the $908 billion framework rolled out by a bipartisan group of lawmakers earlier this week.  Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Schumer said they support the bill — despite months of insisting they wouldn't agree to anything under $2.2 trillion.  The bottom line: 34.9% of the 10.7 million people unemployed in November were permanent job losses, noted S&P Global U.S. Chief Economist Beth Ann Bovino in an analyst email: "The harsh reality is that we don't expect the economy to regain all the 22.2 million jobs lost from the pandemic until first-quarter 2023."     2. Chart du jour: The McRib theory A popular theory holds that McDonald's McRib only appears when hog prices hit a low point, writes Axios' Felix Salmon. Between the lines: The McRib seems to have been consistently introduced at low points in the price of pork — until this year, when the low point came in late June. Data: FactSet, Axios research. Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios Given the sophistication of commodity markets, it would have been easy for the company to buy pork in June for delivery in December. In which case the company would be entirely agnostic as to the market price today.     A message from Facebook Facebook supports updated internet regulations     We support updated internet regulations to set clear rules for today's toughest challenges and hold companies, including Facebook, accountable for: Combating foreign election interference. Protecting people's privacy. Enabling safe and easy data portability between platforms. Read more     3. Catch up quick Saudi Arabia and Qatar are close to a deal to end the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf following U.S.-mediated reconciliation talks this week. Go deeper. Video game giant Activision Blizzard sued Netflix for allegedly breaking the law when it hired away Activision's CFO. Go deeper. The House voted to decriminalize marijuana. Go deeper.     4. 1 smile to go: Christmas movies Photo: NBC/Apple/HBO Max/Netflix/Disney+ via AP Not a moment too soon: Christmas season entertainment is here with a stocking stuffed full of streaming content, reports AP. Music: "My Gift: A Christmas Special From Carrie Underwood," now streaming on HBO Max. "Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special," tonight, Apple TV+. "A Holly Dolly Christmas," Sunday, CBS. Movies: "The Princess Switch: Switched Again," now streaming on Netflix. "Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey," now streaming on Netflix. "Godmothered," tonight, Disney+.     A message from Facebook It's time for updated regulations to improve privacy standards     We continue to take action to build privacy into our products and give people the tools to help manage their privacy like Privacy Checkup and Off-Facebook Activity. But there's more to do. We support updated internet regulations to improve privacy standards. Read more     Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: