But, but, but... there's no slack in the labor force, we're at maximum employment, this is the best economy ever?

For four years, Americans have hoped for 'more' - specifically higher household incomes - and that hope has accelerated since President Trump's election. Today, we got yet another confirmation that hope is not a strategy as real average hourly earnings turned negative year-over-year...

In fact this is the weakest YoY shift in real average hourly earnings since October 2012...

All of which is rather paradoxical given that just this week, Cheesecake Factory stock crashed after its earnings collapsed due to soaring labor costs.