Even MSNBC cannot polish Friday’s job report, reports Cain TV:

CNBC’s Michelle Caruso-Cabrera appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to announce the new, “awful,” December jobs report.

“Oh good Lord…” said host Joe Scarborough. “That’s a horrific number. That’s one of the lowest numbers we’ve seen in years.”

Morning Joe’s crack news team did make a half-hearted stab at blaming “cold weather,” but you could tell they’re just not into the argument. The fact is there’s simply no way to spin this data as anything other than dismal. They even bemoaned the fact that the unemployment rate only went down because so many people left the workforce.  For MSNBC, that comes dangerously close to actual reporting.

Zero Hedge puts it in stark visual:

Curious why despite the huge miss in payrolls the unemployment rate tumbled from 7.0% to 6.7%? The reason is because in December the civilian labor force did what it usually does in the New Normal: it dropped from 155.3 million to 154.9 million, which means the labor participation rate just dropped to a fresh 35 year low, hitting levels not seen since 1978, at 62.8% down from 63.0%.

And the piece de resistance: Americans not in the labor force exploded higher by 535,000 to a new all time high 91.8 million.