Bada Boom!

Vacations are for hard workers. President Barack Obama deserved one after bitter fight with Congressional Republicans. He also can celebrate the unemployment numbers. The job report has recorded over 155,000 hiring positions.

Okay, we ended the year of 2012 with Congress being the most dysfunctional ever. They were ranked the worst legislative body ever in 60 years. We ended 2012 with incumbent president Barack Obama easily winning reelection over perennial loser Republican Mitt Romney. We ended the year with major celebrities passing away. We had three major tragedies unfold. The Aurora, Colorado shooting, The Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut and Superstorm Sandy destroying New York and New Jersey has the American public demanding government intervention. We ended the year with unemployment ticking up once again.

However the news is great in a way that helps motivate President Barack Obama to the negotiation table when dealing with a freshman class of conservative Republicans. This new class of Republicans plus the old establishment will waste no time trying to drag another political fight into the whims of public. The old guard was embarrassed by the fiscal cliff fiasco.

Unemployment for based on December hiring was around 155,000 (excluding those who dropped out the workforce) bringing the figure up to 7.8 percent. This sets January as the period for slow growth based on lagging retail sales and the Congress last minute decision to pass a federal law that makes the Bush tax cuts permanent for those who make less than $400,000.

The Associated Press reports the solid job growth wasn't enough to push down the unemployment rate, which stayed 7.8 percent last month, according to the Labor Department's report Friday. November's rate was revised higher from an initially reported 7.7 percent.

Stock futures rose modestly after the report was released.

Robust hiring in manufacturing and construction fueled the December gains. Construction firms added 30,000 jobs, the most in 15 months. That likely reflects additional hiring needed to rebuild after Superstorm Sandy and also solid gains in home building that have contributed to a housing recovery.

Manufacturers gained 25,000, the most in nine months.

Even with the gains, hiring is far from accelerating. Employers added an average of 153,000 jobs a month last year, matching the monthly average in 2011. Employers added 1.84 million jobs in 2012, the same as the previous year.

Still, the stable hiring last month means employers didn't panic during the high-stakes talks between Congress and the White House over tax increases and spending cuts that were not resolved until the new year. That's a good sign for the coming months, since more budget disputes are expected.

While the parties reached a deal this week that removed the threat of income tax increases on most Americans, they postponed the more difficult decisions on cutting spending. And the government must also increase its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit by around late February or risk defaulting on its debt.

There were indications in the December report of the job market's ongoing sluggishness. The number of Americans unemployed actually rose 164,000 to 12.2 million. The unemployment figures come from a separate survey of households, while the job counts are derived from a survey of businesses.

Still, the economy is improving. Layoffs are declining, and the number of people who sought unemployment aid in the past month is near a four-year low.

The once-battered housing market is recovering. Companies ordered more long-lasting manufactured goods in November, a sign they are investing more in equipment and software. And Americans spent more in November. Consumer spending drives nearly 70 percent of economic growth.

Manufacturing is getting a boost from the best auto sales in five years. Car sales jumped 13 percent in 2012 to 14.5 million. And Americans spent more at the tail end of the holiday shopping season, boosting overall sales that had slumped earlier in the crucial two-month period.

Of course this won't satisfy the angry rhetoric of conservative talk radio and those in the Republican Party.

They'll dismiss this as another ploy to make the president look good and the Labor Department playing with the numbers again!

The 113th Congress is now in session with the greatest number of women in the House and Senate by far.

Also the very same idiots who rush to the cameras will certainly drag another controversy or two into the fold.

Already, former presidential candidate and unhinged idiot Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) wants to repeal Obamacare. That was the first bill introduced into Congress.