Here's a note of optimism from the President of the United States, Joe Biden:

Ahh! Inspiring. Anyway here's reality:

Companies cut jobs in January for the first time in more than a year as the spread of the Covid omicron variant appeared to hit hiring, payroll processing firm ADP reported Wednesday.

Private payrolls fell by 301,000 for the month, well below the Dow Jones estimate for growth of 200,000 and a marked plunge from the downwardly revised 776,000 gain in December. It was the first time ADP reported negative job growth since December 2020.

This follows months and months and months of bad jobs reports for the president.

If you listen very closely you can hear the sound of a sad horn blowing quietly as the White House learns of this report.

What's the cause of the dip? The White house press secretary tried to blame it on people taking sick days, and one economist blamed the bad numbers on the omicron variant's "significant, though likely temporary, impact to job growth."

Funny, around here that's how we like to describe Joe Biden's presidency!