The mainstream media appears to be all-in on Joe Biden’s reelection. Expect that enthusiasm to color nearly all reporting — especially on the economy.

Take the most recent jobs report, which, we are told, was a stunner. Was it really? Or did the media willfully overlook a number of thorny issues? After all, the idea that the U.S. created 353,000 jobs in January flies in the face of numerous other data points:

• Many companies reported fourth-quarter profits that beat Wall Street expectations, mainly because of “cost-cutting” — aka, layoffs. Did a whole bunch of firms turn on a dime and start hiring right after the end of the year? Firms in tech, the country’s fastest-growing industry, laid off 15,806 people in January. More broadly, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a consultancy that tracks job cuts, reports that last month U.S. firms announced 82,307 cuts, a 136 percent increase from the 34,817 people terminated in December.
  
• One of the biggest sources of new hiring was retail, which seems at odds with reports of rising credit card delinquencies and increased defaults on mortgages and auto loans. Credit card default rates rose 50 percent last year to the highest level since the financial crisis in 2008. If the consumer is struggling, retailers would be wary of adding workers.

• Though interest rates are expected to come down, they remain high. Bank loans are tough to get and venture capital funding has dried up. Does that paint a picture of robust new........
  

  © The Hill