NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT HERE.
WE VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THAT.
LET’S GO TO THE FORMER LABOR
SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES,
WHAT HE MAKES OF THIS LATEST
REPORT, EUGENE SCALIA, LABOR
SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP.
SECRETARY, ALWAYS GOOD TO HAVE
YOU.
I WAS TRYING TO DESCRIBE THIS
REPORT TODAY AS A GOLDILOCKS
MAYBE TYPE REPORT, NOT TOO
STRONG, NOT TOO WEAK, MAYBE --
AT LEAST FOR THE MARKETS TODAY,
AND WE STILL HAVE A FEW HOURS TO
GO -- MAYBE JUST RIGHT.
WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT?
>> I THINK THAT’S PROBABLY
RIGHT, NEIL.
I THINK THAT’S -- LOOK, THIS IS
A GOOD JOBS REPORT.
WHENEVER I COULD STEP OUT AS
LABOR SECRETARY AND SAY WE’VE
ADDED 315,000 JOBS TO THE
ECONOMY, THAT’S A REALLY GOOD
NUMBER.
IT’S NOT AS HIGH AS SOME WE’VE
SEEN.
IT’S STILL HIGH.
ASCOM SAID, YES -- AS CONNELL
SAID, YES, UNEMPLOYMENT TICKED
UP TO 3.7, BUT WHAT I THOUGHT
WAS HEARTENING IN THIS REPORT
WAS THAT LABOR FORCE
PARTICIPATION WENT UP.
YOU KNOW, .3%, WHICH IS A GOOD
MOVE RELATIVE TO WHAT WE’VE SEEN
OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS OR
MORE.
THAT’S BEEN ONE OF THE CONCERNS
COMING OUT OF THE PANDEMIC
ECONOMY AND REALLY GOING EVEN
FARTHER THAN THAT WHICH IS WE
STILL HAVE TOO MANY PEOPLE ON
THE SIDELINES, AND THAT DIDN’T
SEEM TO BE BUDGING.
THAT’S NOW BUDGED SOME, ABOUT
790,000 MORE PEOPLE CAME TO THE
WORK FORCE.
AND SO I THINK WHAT WE’RE
SEEING, NEIL, IS THAT WE’RE
STILL GETTING JOB GAINS FROM
COMING OUT OF THE PANDEMIC
ECONOMY.
WE STILL HAVE JOBS TO ADD, BUT
WE DIDN’T IN THIS REPORT, I
THINK, SEE ANY SERIOUS
RECESSIONARY IMPACTS EITHER.
SO YOU WANT TO CALL IT
GOLDILOCKS, YOU KNOW, THAT’S
FINE.
I WOULD ALSO POINT OUT, AS YOU
KNOW, ANOTHER IMPORTANT REPORT
THAT CAME OUT RECENTLY IS THE
JOB WITH OPENINGS REPORT.
WE STILL HAVE 11.2 MILLION JOB
OPENINGS WHILE WE ONLY HAVE
ABOUT 6 MILLION PEOPLE WHO SAY
THEY’RE UNEMPLOYED.
NEIL: YEAH.
>> THERE IS STILL, YOU KNOW, A
HOT JOB MARKET OUT WILL, AND
WE’LL CONTINUE TO WATCH THE
IMPACT ON WAGES AND, THEREFORE,
INFLATION.
NEIL: SECRETARY, I DON’T WANT TO
GO TOO FAR WITH THE GOLDILOCKS
ANALOGY, BECAUSE EVERYONE SHOULD
REMEMBER SHE WAS IN A HOUSE
DOMINATED BY BEARS.
THAT’S A DESPERATE SEPARATE
STORY -- SEPARATE STORY.
LET ME GET YOUR TAKE ON HOW THIS
IS DIGESTED.
WE’VE GOT SOME SENTIMENT NUMBERS
THAT THAT AMERICANS MIGHT
RETRENCH, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY
DEPENDING ON THE RETAILER SOME
ARE DOING FINE IN THIS
ENVIRONMENT, OTHERS NOT SO MUCH.
SO THERE’S SOME RETICENCE, YOU
KNOW, POPPING UP HERE AND THERE.
DOES THAT WORRY YOU, THE
ARGUMENT THAT THIS IS GOOD, BUT
IT’S NOT GOING TO STAY THIS WAY?
>> WELL, I THINK THAT’S A FAIR
WAY TO LOOK AT IT.
YOU KNOW, WHEN I TALK TO
EXECUTIVES AND TALK TO MY
CLIENTS AND AS THEY LOOK DOWN
THE ROAD, AMONG THEIR CONCERNS
ARE THE REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT,
YOU KNOW?
AS YOU KNOW, NEIL, FROM OUR
PRIOR DISCUSSIONS I THOUGHT THAT
ONE OF THE REASONS DURING THE
TRUMP YEARS THAT THE JOB MARKET
WAS JUST SO INCREDIBLY GOOD WAS
THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS LOOSENING
THE BURDENS ON THE ECONOMY.
WE’RE IN A PHASE NOW WHERE
PRESIDENT BIDEN IS INCREASING
REGULATORY BURDENS.
YOU LOOK AT WHAT THE SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION IS
DOING, YOU LOOK AT THE FEDERAL
TRADE COMMISSION, THE LABOR
DEPARTMENT IS LOOKING AT A RULE
TO MAKE IT HARDER FOR COMPANIES
TO USE INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS.
I MOW THAT THOSE KINDS OF -- I
KNOW THAT THOSE KINDS OF
REGULATORY AND HIRING COSTS ARE
ON THE MIND OF EXECUTIVES AS
THEY LOOK DOWN THE ROAD AS WELL.
NEIL: SECRETARY, IF I COULD JUST
VEER A LITTLE BIT BACK TO YOUR
DAD, THE LATE, GREAT JUSTICE OF
THE SUPREME COURT, ANTONIN
SCALIA WITH, AND WHAT YOU THINK
YOUR DAD WOULD MAKE, FIRST OF
ALL, ON THE ROE V. WADE
REVERSAL, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY,
THE REACTION TO IT AND HOW IT
HAS GALVANIZED CERTAINLY SOME
DEMOCRATS IN KEY RACES.
WHAT DO YOU THINK HE WOULD
THINK?
>> WELL,S YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT
THIS SUPREME COURT TERM, NEIL,
IT WAS CERTAINLY AN IMPORTANT
TERM.
AND I THINK IT DID REFLECT TO A
SIGNIFICANT EXTENT WORK THAT MY
FATHER HAD DONE OVER DECADES
WHICH WAS TO PROMOTE AN
INTERPRETATION OF THE
CONSTITUTION BASED ON WHAT HE
WOULD CALL ITS ORIGINAL MEANING
RATHER THAN ON PEOPLE’S POLICY
IDEAS ON WHAT THE CONSTITUTIONAL
RIGHTS SHOULD BE AND ALSO AN
INTERPRETIVE METHOD THAT HE
CALLED TEXTUALISM, FOCUSING ON
THE TEXT OF’S AND OF STATUTES --
THE CONSTITUTION AND OF
STATUTES.
THINK THIS TERM IS ONE WHERE, BY
AND LARGE, THAT METHODOLOGY HAD
UPPER HAND.
HE DID NOT LIKE ROE V. WADE, HE
THOUGHT IT WAS A TERRIBLE
DECISION AND, I THINK, WOULD
HAVE BEEN PLEASED TO SEE IT
OVERRULED AS IT WAS.
IN TERMS OF THE PUBLIC REACTION,
YOU KNOW, LET ME SAY, FIRST OF
ALL, I THINK IT’S VERY, VERY
DISTRESSING TO LIVE IN AN
ENVIRONMENT WHERE OUR JUDGES ARE
THREATENED, WHERE THERE ARE EVEN
ATTEMPTS BEING MADE ON THEM.
WE HAVE TO CORRECT THAT.
THAT IS A SERIOUS THREAT TO OUR
COUNTRY CAN.
AS, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE OTHER
THINGS WE’VE SEEN OVER THE LAST
YEAR OR MORE.
BUT, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE
REASONS THAT MY FATHER WAS
DISTURBED BY ROE V. WADE WAS HE
THOUGHT THAT THE COURT HAD
IMPROPERLY THRUST ITSELF INTO
POLICY DECISIONS THAT BELONGED
TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
AND I THINK HE WOULD NOT HAVE
BEEN SURPRISED, ACTUALLY, THAT
WHEN THE COURT PULLED AWAY AND
SAID WE’RE GOING TO GET OUT OF
BUSINESS OF POLICING ABORTION
RIGHTS AND PUT IT BACK TO THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE, I THINK HE
WOULD HAVE EXPECTED THAT THERE
WOULD BE SOME PEOPLE WHO WOULD
REACT TO THAT.
AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK WHERE WE
SHOULD BE HEADED IS BACK TO THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE MAKING THESE
DECISIONS, AND, YOU KNOW, WHEN
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TAKE ON NEW
RESPONSIBILITIES, SURE, I THINK
THERE WILL BE SOME EXCITEMENT,
MARCHING THE AND THE LIKE,
INITIALLY.
MY HOPE, HIS HOPE WOULD HAVE
BEEN THAT WE RETURN IT TO THE
POLITICAL PROCESS AND THE COURT
CANS ARE LESS INVOLVED GOING
FORWARD.
NEIL: THAT IS, INDEED, WHAT