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The brand comes second

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One small pharma company is meeting the challenge of COVID-19 by finding new ways to support the practices of its specialist physician customers. 

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all pharma companies, with each forced to rethink communications and support strategies for the physicians who prescribe its products. One small eye care-focused company, Aerie Pharmaceuticals, has chosen to respond by finding ways to help ophthalmology practices recover and retool themselves to provide better care in the face of the pandemic, putting that effort ahead of messaging for its own brands. Med Ad News spoke with Deanne Melloy, Aerie’s VP of global strategic marketing, to find out how and why. 

Med Ad News: Tell us about Aerie and your recent product launches. 

Deanne: Aerie Pharmaceuticals was founded by Dr. David Epstein, the late Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Duke, who was seeking a cure for glaucoma. Very few pharma companies in today’s environment are actually able to commercialize their own R&D. You get bought out or you get merged. But that hasn’t been the case with Aerie. When I started, I was employee number 123. We had not commercialized anything yet. So we had to create a market within 12 months of when I started, with low recognition out there about Aerie and our new product. This product, Rhopressa, was the first new chemical entity in the category in 20 years and represented an entirely new class of glaucoma medications, Rho kinase (ROCK) inhibitors. So, a lot had to be done, and we didn’t have the luxury of having a lot of money to be able to do two years of market shaping. We had 12 months to do that, while at the same time build out a commercial organization. 

Unlike many companies in our position, we didn’t hire a CSO. We hired all of our own sales representatives. And then just 12 months after the first launch, we launched the second product, Rocklatan, the first combination drug in the United States containing a prostaglandin analog (PGA) and a ROCK inhibitor. So again, another first with a lot of unknowns, in a market that had been pretty static for two decades. That was our biggest challenge – it required a major disruption in the way ophthalmologists think about practicing glaucoma care. And we’ve been successful. Rocklatan has been on the market now for almost two years, Rhopressa for three years. We are now nearly the fourth largest branded franchise in the space. The market is still predominantly generic. However, we are continuing to surpass any previous launches, even from 15, 20 years ago. Of course part of it has to do with our coverage, because we know in this day and age, coverage is a requirement. We now have more than 90 percent coverage for our products across commercial and Medicare Part B in less than two years. And that has to do with the fact that we delivered a real innovation with a completely novel MOA which has made a tremendous difference, but it’s also required strong positioning and effective storytelling to get us there.

Med Ad News: What’s the difference between Rhopressa/Rocklatan and what came before?

Deanne: The only therapeutic target for glaucoma right now is lowering intraocular pressure, or IOP. Our products have superiority when it comes to efficacy – they lower IOP more than other agents. Also, a ROCK inhibitor treats the underlying cause of increased IOP in glaucoma, the diseased trabecular meshwork. Physicians have seen that with Rhopressa, they can get their patients to low target pressures and keep their IOPs low, in some cases delaying the need for glaucoma surgery. We’ve shown that Rhopressa has this consistent effect whether it is used as monotherapy or added to one medication, usually a PGA, or many medications.

Med Ad News: What did you do in terms of marketing that was unique and interesting and different to go along with these novel agents that were themselves unique and interesting and different?

Deanne: In the past, selling and marketing in ophthalmology has been very, very relationship-based. There were a handful of big players – Alcon, Allergan, Bausch+Lomb – and their interactions with ophthalmologists were for the most part very relationship-driven. In a marketplace that was 80 percent generic, that was fine for them. But now we were coming to market with a product that was radically different than anything that had come before, with a story that needed to be told and differentiating characteristics that needed to be explained. A relationship might get you in the door, but it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the inertia of 20 years of same, same, same. So we decided to move away from the traditional relationship-based approach to a tighter focus on the benefits of the new products. For example, we had to hire a team of 100 sales reps, and when we did so we focused predominantly on finding people with experience in ophthalmology. We really needed people who were hungry, humble, and wanting to sell and promote these particular products versus just building relationships. These drugs were not going to sell themselves, so we needed to focus more on that style versus the relationships. And that has paid off even more than we’d hoped because now, in the COVID-19 environment, when our sales force has not been able to be out in the field and ophthalmologists haven’t been seeing reps live, we have been able to pivot to non-personal promotion, predominantly in digital, without getting tripped up the way we might have if we’d relied exclusively on a relationship-based approach. 

Med Ad News: Let’s talk about COVID a bit. When it became clear that the virus was going to have a major impact on the United States at large, how did you shift your strategy and how has that shift turned out?

Deanne: I believe that we were one of the first companies in ophthalmology to respond substantively to COVID. We conducted more than 10 roundtables, worked with our speakers, did virtual training and made a whole lot of connections with our physicians. And then we did more than 1,000 engagements with our physicians virtually within 45 days of COVID-19 hitting. That has definitely paid off. In fact, I recently got an email from one of our doctors that said he has been so impressed with our organization and how our marketing team has conducted themselves during this pandemic. He basically told me that nobody else has done what Aerie has done.

We took an approach that we were going to be there for ophthalmology, and glaucoma treaters in particular, in a comprehensive way. We sponsored a daily email update from AAO, the largest ophthalmology association, to help their members get through COVID-19. We’ve made the physicians’ survival and successful re-emergence the goal rather than heavy promotion of our products. We know that physicians’ staffs were also going through tremendous challenges, and so we’ve been offering them multiple programs on how to understand what COVID-19 has done to impact their practice. And we’ve been offering ideas and tips from industry consultants on how to approach practice recovery, from telemedicine, to new office protocols, to accessing emergency funding. And the result has been that our products are doing well because the physicians like what Aerie has been doing for them. That new equity in Aerie, as a committed partner to the clinician, has translated into an increase in equity for our brands as well.

Med Ad News: So you’ve essentially turned yourselves into a support system for ophthalmologists? 

Deanne: Yes. When I got that email from the doc, it was a thrill because it was completely unsolicited by us and he just said, in his career, he’s never seen an organization do this and he’s so proud to be working with the Aerie team. It was a gamble, right? I had told our president, whenever we come out of this crisis, if an Aerie sales rep shows up and tries to promote our products, unless we do something like this, the docs will say, “I’m sorry, who are you? Where were you when I needed you?” And it’s worked. Ophthalmologists and ophthalmology practices have really responded positively.

Med Ad News: Has there been any sign of the other high rollers in ophthalmology, your larger competitors, trying to do something similar?

Deanne: We did see one company send out a message and sponsor a new practice management offering in the last month. However, at the same time, substantively they’ve done very little. We haven’t seen B+L or Alcon do anything like this. I don’t think they saw us, as such a small player, being able to make such a significant difference – both for our glaucoma customers and for ophthalmology as a whole.

Med Ad News: So what happens now? How do you continue to maintain and improve those relationships you’ve built and support those practices you’ve helped?

Deanne: We’re going to try to pin down and define the stages of practice recovery, since of course every practice is in a different phase. And then, how do practices prepare more effectively for future crises? We really see profound and permanent changes in eye care being made. For example, are there now opportunities for ophthalmologists to treat their glaucoma patients more with telemedicine? Is there a way in which they can approach glaucoma differently with fewer IOP checks? Basically we are taking advantage of what we’ve learned from this experience and developing more case studies and ideas for practice evolution specific to glaucoma, though not necessarily specific to Rocklatan and Rhopressa. Again, not taking it from a brand-necessary approach, but taking it from a total therapeutic class approach. Because what we’ve heard from ophthalmologists is, “Had I known that I wasn’t going to see my patients in the normal cycle of time, I would have treated this or that patient much more aggressively from the get-go.” So, how do you take that lesson and say, “Don’t wait for another pandemic to come. You should look at treating your patients more aggressively from the beginning.” Don’t wait for their IOPs to get into the 20s and 30s before you go stronger. Taking the lessons learned and what’s been helpful and moving the conversation in that direction. Versus the same old song and dance of going back out with our reps and having them say, “Here are the features and benefits of Rocklatan and Rhopressa,” pretending nothing has changed. We’re not doing that. We are incorporating brand messages into an approach that reflects the current reality and addresses clinicians’ concerns.

Med Ad News: I assume that means a pretty big shift in approach and preparation for the members of the sales force.

Deanne: Absolutely. One program the sales force is rolling out, for example, is called the “Tech Deck.” It’s a presentation specifically developed for practice technicians, because we observed that, in ophthalmology practices, the majority of the staff either hasn’t returned yet or has had to change their roles and responsibilities. So we are going out and helping those offices get set up and trained for this new environment. You now have technicians who normally would be doing eye exams triaging patients in the parking lot instead. You don’t have the same people doing reimbursement. We are helping to train all these folks virtually and sharing success stories from other practices all around the country. 

Med Ad News: You’ve mentioned the email you received from an individual ophthalmologist. Is it commonplace for you as a VP of marketing to interact directly with individual physicians on the ground?

Deanne: I communicate with doctors on-on-one all the time. We also do what we call “executive exchange.” We’ll have a group of doctors that are interested in having a Zoom call with us, and we just have open conversations with them and ask questions. It’s VP and above, so it’s myself and my other colleagues in senior management, as well as the president of our company. They’re just open dialogues. It’s not uncommon to have at least two of these a week with eight doctors at a time. Some of the participants are prominent ophthalmologists, some aren’t. They don’t have to be huge prescribers. I guess this is one way we are pursuing the traditional “relationship” playbook in ophthalmology. We just don’t rely completely on it. I know many, many doctors by their first names, and can pick up the phone and talk with them all the time, any time. That is an Aerie-driven cultural dynamic. No doubt. It’s just another way to stay closer to the actual needs of the ophthalmology practice community and therefore be able to provide better support.   

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Economic Earthquake Ahead? The Cracks Are Spreading Fast

Economic Earthquake Ahead? The Cracks Are Spreading Fast

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

One of my favorite false narratives…

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Economic Earthquake Ahead? The Cracks Are Spreading Fast

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

One of my favorite false narratives floating around corporate media platforms has been the argument that the American people “just don’t seem to understand how good the economy really is right now.” If only they would look at the stats, they would realize that we are in the middle of a financial renaissance, right? It must be that people have been brainwashed by negative press from conservative sources…

I have to laugh at this notion because it’s a very common one throughout history – it’s an assertion made by almost every single political regime right before a major collapse. These people always say the same things, and when you study economics as long as I have you can’t help but throw up your hands and marvel at their dedication to the propaganda.

One example that comes to mind immediately is the delusional optimism of the “roaring” 1920s and the lead up to the Great Depression. At the time around 60% of the U.S. population was living in poverty conditions (according to the metrics of the decade) earning less than $2000 a year. However, in the years after WWI ravaged Europe, America’s economic power was considered unrivaled.

The 1920s was an era of mass production and rampant consumerism but it was all fueled by easy access to debt, a condition which had not really existed before in America. It was this illusion of prosperity created by the unchecked application of credit that eventually led to the massive stock market bubble and the crash of 1929. This implosion, along with the Federal Reserve’s policy of raising interest rates into economic weakness, created a black hole in the U.S. financial system for over a decade.

There are two primary tools that various failing regimes will often use to distort the true conditions of the economy: Debt and inflation. In the case of America today, we are experiencing BOTH problems simultaneously and this has made certain economic indicators appear healthy when they are, in fact, highly unstable. The average American knows this is the case because they see the effects everyday. They see the damage to their wallets, to their buying power, in the jobs market and in their quality of life. This is why public faith in the economy has been stuck in the dregs since 2021.

The establishment can flash out-of-context stats in people’s faces, but they can’t force the populace to see a recovery that simply does not exist. Let’s go through a short list of the most faulty indicators and the real reasons why the fiscal picture is not a rosy as the media would like us to believe…

The “miracle” labor market recovery

In the case of the U.S. labor market, we have a clear example of distortion through inflation. The $8 trillion+ dropped on the economy in the first 18 months of the pandemic response sent the system over the edge into stagflation land. Helicopter money has a habit of doing two things very well: Blowing up a bubble in stock markets and blowing up a bubble in retail. Hence, the massive rush by Americans to go out and buy, followed by the sudden labor shortage and the race to hire (mostly for low wage part-time jobs).

The problem with this “miracle” is that inflation leads to price explosions, which we have already experienced. The average American is spending around 30% more for goods, services and housing compared to what they were spending in 2020. This is what happens when you have too much money chasing too few goods and limited production.

The jobs market looks great on paper, but the majority of jobs generated in the past few years are jobs that returned after the covid lockdowns ended. The rest are jobs created through monetary stimulus and the artificial retail rush. Part time low wage service sector jobs are not going to keep the country rolling for very long in a stagflation environment. The question is, what happens now that the stimulus punch bowl has been removed?

Just as we witnessed in the 1920s, Americans have turned to debt to make up for higher prices and stagnant wages by maxing out their credit cards. With the central bank keeping interest rates high, the credit safety net will soon falter. This condition also goes for businesses; the same businesses that will jump headlong into mass layoffs when they realize the party is over. It happened during the Great Depression and it will happen again today.

Cracks in the foundation

We saw cracks in the narrative of the financial structure in 2023 with the banking crisis, and without the Federal Reserve backstop policy many more small and medium banks would have dropped dead. The weakness of U.S. banks is offset by the relative strength of the U.S. dollar, which lures in foreign investors hoping to protect their wealth using dollar denominated assets.

But something is amiss. Gold and bitcoin have rocketed higher along with economically sensitive assets and the dollar. This is the opposite of what’s supposed to happen. Gold and BTC are supposed to be hedges against a weak dollar and a weak economy, right? If global faith in the dollar and in the U.S. economy is so high, why are investors diving into protective assets like gold?

Again, as noted above, inflation distorts everything.

Tens of trillions of extra dollars printed by the Fed are floating around and it’s no surprise that much of that cash is flooding into the economy which simply pushes higher right along with prices on the shelf. But, gold and bitcoin are telling us a more honest story about what’s really happening.

Right now, the U.S. government is adding around $600 billion per month to the national debt as the Fed holds rates higher to fight inflation. This debt is going to crush America’s financial standing for global investors who will eventually ask HOW the U.S. is going to handle that growing millstone? As I predicted years ago, the Fed has created a perfect Catch-22 scenario in which the U.S. must either return to rampant inflation, or, face a debt crisis. In either case, U.S. dollar-denominated assets will lose their appeal and their prices will plummet.

“Healthy” GDP is a complete farce

GDP is the most common out-of-context stat used by governments to convince the citizenry that all is well. It is yet another stat that is entirely manipulated by inflation. It is also manipulated by the way in which modern governments define “economic activity.”

GDP is primarily driven by spending. Meaning, the higher inflation goes, the higher prices go, and the higher GDP climbs (to a point). Eventually prices go too high, credit cards tap out and spending ceases. But, for a short time inflation makes GDP (as well as retail sales) look good.

Another factor that creates a bubble is the fact that government spending is actually included in the calculation of GDP. That’s right, every dollar of your tax money that the government wastes helps the establishment by propping up GDP numbers. This is why government spending increases will never stop – It’s too valuable for them to spend as a way to make the economy appear healthier than it is.

The REAL economy is eclipsing the fake economy

The bottom line is that Americans used to be able to ignore the warning signs because their bank accounts were not being directly affected. This is over. Now, every person in the country is dealing with a massive decline in buying power and higher prices across the board on everything – from food and fuel to housing and financial assets alike. Even the wealthy are seeing a compression to their profit and many are struggling to keep their businesses in the black.

The unfortunate truth is that the elections of 2024 will probably be the turning point at which the whole edifice comes tumbling down. Even if the public votes for change, the system is already broken and cannot be repaired without a complete overhaul.

We have consistently avoided taking our medicine and our disease has gotten worse and worse.

People have lost faith in the economy because they have not faced this kind of uncertainty since the 1930s. Even the stagflation crisis of the 1970s will likely pale in comparison to what is about to happen. On the bright side, at least a large number of Americans are aware of the threat, as opposed to the 1920s when the vast majority of people were utterly conned by the government, the banks and the media into thinking all was well. Knowing is the first step to preparing.

The second step is securing your own financial future – that’s where physical precious metals can play a role. Diversifying your savings with inflation-resistant, uninflatable assets whose intrinsic value doesn’t rely on a counterparty’s promise to pay adds resilience to your savings. That’s the main reason physical gold and silver have been the safe haven store-of-value assets of choice for centuries (among both the elite and the everyday citizen).

*  *  *

As the world moves away from dollars and toward Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), is your 401(k) or IRA really safe? A smart and conservative move is to diversify into a physical gold IRA. That way your savings will be in something solid and enduring. Get your FREE info kit on Gold IRAs from Birch Gold Group. No strings attached, just peace of mind. Click here to secure your future today.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/08/2024 - 17:00

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Wendy’s teases new $3 offer for upcoming holiday

The Daylight Savings Time promotion slashes prices on breakfast.

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Daylight Savings Time, or the practice of advancing clocks an hour in the spring to maximize natural daylight, is a controversial practice because of the way it leaves many feeling off-sync and tired on the second Sunday in March when the change is made and one has one less hour to sleep in.

Despite annual "Abolish Daylight Savings Time" think pieces and online arguments that crop up with unwavering regularity, Daylight Savings in North America begins on March 10 this year.

Related: Coca-Cola has a new soda for Diet Coke fans

Tapping into some people's very vocal dislike of Daylight Savings Time, fast-food chain Wendy's  (WEN)  is launching a daylight savings promotion that is jokingly designed to make losing an hour of sleep less painful and encourage fans to order breakfast anyway.

Wendy's has recently made a big push to expand its breakfast menu.

Image source: Wendy's.

Promotion wants you to compensate for lost sleep with cheaper breakfast

As it is also meant to drive traffic to the Wendy's app, the promotion allows anyone who makes a purchase of $3 or more through the platform to get a free hot coffee, cold coffee or Frosty Cream Cold Brew.

More Food + Dining:

Available during the Wendy's breakfast hours of 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. (which, naturally, will feel even earlier due to Daylight Savings), the deal also allows customers to buy any of its breakfast sandwiches for $3. Items like the Sausage, Egg and Cheese Biscuit, Breakfast Baconator and Maple Bacon Chicken Croissant normally range in price between $4.50 and $7.

The choice of the latter is quite wide since, in the years following the pandemic, Wendy's has made a concerted effort to expand its breakfast menu with a range of new sandwiches with egg in them and sweet items such as the French Toast Sticks. The goal was both to stand out from competitors with a wider breakfast menu and increase traffic to its stores during early-morning hours.

Wendy's deal comes after controversy over 'dynamic pricing'

But last month, the chain known for the square shape of its burger patties ignited controversy after saying that it wanted to introduce "dynamic pricing" in which the cost of many of the items on its menu will vary depending on the time of day. In an earnings call, chief executive Kirk Tanner said that electronic billboards would allow restaurants to display various deals and promotions during slower times in the early morning and late at night.

Outcry was swift and Wendy's ended up walking back its plans with words that they were "misconstrued" as an intent to surge prices during its most popular periods.

While the company issued a statement saying that any changes were meant as "discounts and value offers" during quiet periods rather than raised prices during busy ones, the reputational damage was already done since many saw the clarification as another way to obfuscate its pricing model.

"We said these menuboards would give us more flexibility to change the display of featured items," Wendy's said in its statement. "This was misconstrued in some media reports as an intent to raise prices when demand is highest at our restaurants."

The Daylight Savings Time promotion, in turn, is also a way to demonstrate the kinds of deals Wendy's wants to promote in its stores without putting up full-sized advertising or posters for what is only relevant for a few days.

Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024

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Inside The Most Ridiculous Jobs Report In Recent History: Record 1.2 Million Immigrant Jobs Added In One Month

Inside The Most Ridiculous Jobs Report In Recent History: Record 1.2 Million Immigrant Jobs Added In One Month

Last month we though that the…

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Inside The Most Ridiculous Jobs Report In Recent History: Record 1.2 Million Immigrant Jobs Added In One Month

Last month we though that the January jobs report was the "most ridiculous in recent history" but, boy, were we wrong because this morning the Biden department of goalseeked propaganda (aka BLS) published the February jobs report, and holy crap was that something else. Even Goebbels would blush. 

What happened? Let's take a closer look.

On the surface, it was (almost) another blockbuster jobs report, certainly one which nobody expected, or rather just one bank out of 76 expected. Starting at the top, the BLS reported that in February the US unexpectedly added 275K jobs, with just one research analyst (from Dai-Ichi Research) expecting a higher number.

Some context: after last month's record 4-sigma beat, today's print was "only" 3 sigma higher than estimates. Needless to say, two multiple sigma beats in a row used to only happen in the USSR... and now in the US, apparently.

Before we go any further, a quick note on what last month we said was "the most ridiculous jobs report in recent history": it appears the BLS read our comments and decided to stop beclowing itself. It did that by slashing last month's ridiculous print by over a third, and revising what was originally reported as a massive 353K beat to just 229K,  a 124K revision, which was the biggest one-month negative revision in two years!

Of course, that does not mean that this month's jobs print won't be revised lower: it will be, and not just that month but every other month until the November election because that's the only tool left in the Biden admin's box: pretend the economic and jobs are strong, then revise them sharply lower the next month, something we pointed out first last summer and which has not failed to disappoint once.

To be fair, not every aspect of the jobs report was stellar (after all, the BLS had to give it some vague credibility). Take the unemployment rate, after flatlining between 3.4% and 3.8% for two years - and thus denying expectations from Sahm's Rule that a recession may have already started - in February the unemployment rate unexpectedly jumped to 3.9%, the highest since February 2022 (with Black unemployment spiking by 0.3% to 5.6%, an indicator which the Biden admin will quickly slam as widespread economic racism or something).

And then there were average hourly earnings, which after surging 0.6% MoM in January (since revised to 0.5%) and spooking markets that wage growth is so hot, the Fed will have no choice but to delay cuts, in February the number tumbled to just 0.1%, the lowest in two years...

... for one simple reason: last month's average wage surge had nothing to do with actual wages, and everything to do with the BLS estimate of hours worked (which is the denominator in the average wage calculation) which last month tumbled to just 34.1 (we were led to believe) the lowest since the covid pandemic...

... but has since been revised higher while the February print rose even more, to 34.3, hence why the latest average wage data was once again a product not of wages going up, but of how long Americans worked in any weekly period, in this case higher from 34.1 to 34.3, an increase which has a major impact on the average calculation.

While the above data points were examples of some latent weakness in the latest report, perhaps meant to give it a sheen of veracity, it was everything else in the report that was a problem starting with the BLS's latest choice of seasonal adjustments (after last month's wholesale revision), which have gone from merely laughable to full clownshow, as the following comparison between the monthly change in BLS and ADP payrolls shows. The trend is clear: the Biden admin numbers are now clearly rising even as the impartial ADP (which directly logs employment numbers at the company level and is far more accurate), shows an accelerating slowdown.

But it's more than just the Biden admin hanging its "success" on seasonal adjustments: when one digs deeper inside the jobs report, all sorts of ugly things emerge... such as the growing unprecedented divergence between the Establishment (payrolls) survey and much more accurate Household (actual employment) survey. To wit, while in January the BLS claims 275K payrolls were added, the Household survey found that the number of actually employed workers dropped for the third straight month (and 4 in the past 5), this time by 184K (from 161.152K to 160.968K).

This means that while the Payrolls series hits new all time highs every month since December 2020 (when according to the BLS the US had its last month of payrolls losses), the level of Employment has not budged in the past year. Worse, as shown in the chart below, such a gaping divergence has opened between the two series in the past 4 years, that the number of Employed workers would need to soar by 9 million (!) to catch up to what Payrolls claims is the employment situation.

There's more: shifting from a quantitative to a qualitative assessment, reveals just how ugly the composition of "new jobs" has been. Consider this: the BLS reports that in February 2024, the US had 132.9 million full-time jobs and 27.9 million part-time jobs. Well, that's great... until you look back one year and find that in February 2023 the US had 133.2 million full-time jobs, or more than it does one year later! And yes, all the job growth since then has been in part-time jobs, which have increased by 921K since February 2023 (from 27.020 million to 27.941 million).

Here is a summary of the labor composition in the past year: all the new jobs have been part-time jobs!

But wait there's even more, because now that the primary season is over and we enter the heart of election season and political talking points will be thrown around left and right, especially in the context of the immigration crisis created intentionally by the Biden administration which is hoping to import millions of new Democratic voters (maybe the US can hold the presidential election in Honduras or Guatemala, after all it is their citizens that will be illegally casting the key votes in November), what we find is that in February, the number of native-born workers tumbled again, sliding by a massive 560K to just 129.807 million. Add to this the December data, and we get a near-record 2.4 million plunge in native-born workers in just the past 3 months (only the covid crash was worse)!

The offset? A record 1.2 million foreign-born (read immigrants, both legal and illegal but mostly illegal) workers added in February!

Said otherwise, not only has all job creation in the past 6 years has been exclusively for foreign-born workers...

Source: St Louis Fed FRED Native Born and Foreign Born

... but there has been zero job-creation for native born workers since June 2018!

This is a huge issue - especially at a time of an illegal alien flood at the southwest border...

... and is about to become a huge political scandal, because once the inevitable recession finally hits, there will be millions of furious unemployed Americans demanding a more accurate explanation for what happened - i.e., the illegal immigration floodgates that were opened by the Biden admin.

Which is also why Biden's handlers will do everything in their power to insure there is no official recession before November... and why after the election is over, all economic hell will finally break loose. Until then, however, expect the jobs numbers to get even more ridiculous.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/08/2024 - 13:30

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