The Jobs Gap & Time For A Bipartisan Road Trip?

Ahead of Friday's jobs number it's really striking to see some of the differences in states' unemployment rates and how they've each been impacted by the pandemic, lockdowns and other factors.

What's happening in DC and the New York - where most of the policy is made and coverage of that policy is generated - is definitely not indicative of many other parts of the nation. Many regional economies are booming, with job growth across numerous industries. Outside of pockets of Florida and South Carolina, travel & hospitality remain depressed. As I've argued in the past, this is truly a travel & hospitality depression - not just recession - particularly in the northeast, DC, Chicago and California, where indoor dining remains very limited and thousands of restaurants have shuttered.

For obvious reasons, lower population density areas have weathered everything better.

I only half jokingly suggested on Twitter (@SullyCNBC) that maybe we need a big partisan road trip to get each side to better understand each others' respective economic realities. Schumer and few top Dems having dinner in Charleston, which is wide open and booming, and McConnell and GOP leadership strolling through midtown Manhattan, which is mostly completely shut down, for example. Maybe it will help each side better realize where their counterparts across the aisle are coming from, at least economically. Because they are coming from very, very different places, literally.

Though there is still way too much unemployment, the pace of recovery is strong and the trends are heading in the right direction.

Overall, the pace of the recovery is strong, and we are, thankfully, back to level of joblessness from only a few years ago, though it's still too high and likely undercounted.

For Friday's payroll number, I think we could add close to one million jobs. And no, I haven't been drinking. The number is released Friday, even though the markets are closed for the holiday.

My bet is still that the national unemployment rate will be under 5% by 12/31 and the overall economy will be *above* pre-pandemic levels in terms of jobs & output by 2Q22, particularly as the weakest part of the economy goes to the moon. Air fare data and searches show that people are already booking travel for the second half of the year. Hotels - already facing reduced capacity - could be sold out in many hot spots and AirBNB should continue to boom.

Thoughts?