The Daily Feather — All Rise

Judgment Day has come and gone. On October 4, 2022, New York Yankees Aaron Judge belted his 62nd home run of the season off Jesus Tinoco of the Texas Rangers. It was a lead-off blast on a 1-1 count that landed in the left field seats. The slugger had met his destiny, one the Yankees saw when he was taken in the supplemental first round of the 2013 amateur draft as the 32nd pick. He was a high school phenom, averaging almost 17 points and 11 rebounds per game as a basketball center and set school records for touchdowns and receiving yards in a season as a wide receiver at Linden High School in California. Five years before he set the American League single-season record for home runs, Judge’s monstrous drives generated a groundswell at Yankee Stadium. During a May 2017 homestand against the Oakland A’s, his growing popularity was capitalized with the creation of the “Judge's Chambers.” In those designated bleacher seats, fans donned judge’s robes and rose in unison every time he stepped up to the plate, in anticipation of the slugger sending a long ball there.

“All Rise” has become synonymous with Judge. He’s even created a foundation with its name to “inspire children and youth to become responsible citizens by engaging them in activities that encourage them to reach unlimited possibilities.”

The U.S. state unemployment cycle is also reaching past its limits. Yesterday’s December state labor data via the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed unemployment rates rose month-over-month (MoM) across 42 of 51 states (including the District of Columbia). This improved upon October’s tally of 50 MoM and November’s 46. Three cheers for an improving trend?

Since you mentioned the word “trend,” we decided to approach the data through a slightly different lens. We benchmarked all states to a new starting point – each of their respective cycle bottoms in the level of unemployment.

ALL WE CAN SAY IS, “WOW!”