1. 37 million jobs in august, pretty much in line with expectations. Meanwhile, the Unemployment Rate dropped below double digits for the First Time Since the shutdown, plunging to 8. 4 . Joining me now to discuss this and more, former jpmorgan chief economist anthony chan. Anthony, thank you so much for joining us. You know, the headline number might have been in line, but you get underneath and look at some of the details in this. This is a pretty impressive report, and lets start with the Unemployment Rate at 8. 4 . I think wall street was looking for 9. 8 . Charles, this is a great report from that perspective. I get very excited when i see Unemployment Rates go down. That really tells you that thats going to throw a real breath of fresh air for the American People as they see that were making Good Progress on the Unemployment Rate. I was especially excited about the fact that the black Unemployment Rate dropped sharply, and so did the hispanic Unemployment Rate, which is something that we badly need. The only thing that bothered me a little bit is that spread between the black Unemployment Rate and the national Unemployment Rate, that spread has been widening out just slightly over the last three months. Thats been narrowing for the hispanic Unemployment Rate. But i believe that the Federal Reserves new strategy now theyre going to let the economy run hot are, in fact, take care of this issue over the next couple of years because at this point theyre not even thinking about raising Interest Rates anytime soon, and thats going to be good for many of these groups that have suffered higher Unemployment Rates relative to the national population. Charles im going to get you back to that. I want you to zero in on that because youre the first economist that ive heard who understands, i think, or at least has articulated what jay powell is trying to do. I think hes become the worlds most powerful social justice warrior. Just so the audience understands, the gap between white and black unemployment that narrowed to its a small was its nay rowist narrowest ever. Black Unemployment Rate last month was 13 , whites 7. 3 . Are you thrilled about the idea that the Federal Reserve is saying, hey, were not going to worry about inflations because historically with unemployment down around 4 , we would start to put speed bumps in. But that 4 doesnt reflect all parts of society. Should that be the rule for the Federal Reserve . I think that is certainly encouraging, that the Federal Reserve is taking on this initiative. If truth be told, i think that in order to really rectify this situation, you need to see all forms of government basically joining forces. The good news for the Federal Reserve is that, certainly, since they started targeting inflation in january of 2012, they really havent seen the inflation rate exceed 2 when you look at the core personal consumption deflater. So they really have a lot of head room to be able to pursue this. But we need to see all levels of government doing this. But i am encouraged. And i think it actually is going to work, because so far jay powell has admitted himself that their estimates of the National Full employment Unemployment Rate has been, in fact, dry. So they really have some justification for letting the economy run hot without worrying about inflation really exceeding expectations. And right now, charles, what we have is excess capacity in the overall economy. When you consider that we have another 11 and a half million jobs that we have to make up in the Establishment Survey and almost 8 million jobs in the Household Survey used to compute the Unemployment Rate before we get back to charles right. Prepandemic levels, it really tells us we have a lot of excess capacity. So worrying about these things or at least addressing them is a very good idea with. Charles so you like what the fed is doing. Youve mentioned twice about all hands on deck, you know, referring to the federal government. In this instance, congress. This number, do you think it will, will it enhance the idea of perhaps another round of fiscal stimulus, or will it sort of harden these lines where republicans, a lot of republicans are saying were moving in the right direction, lets continue to wait and see, and, of course, the other side has been nancy pelosi and company who many believe just ask for so much, it was never a genuine effort . Can both sides somehow find a way to use this jobs report to speed up maybe another round of fiscal stimulus . Charles, that was essential that both Political Parties get together and do something, because in the Third Quarter real gdp is probably going to come in somewhere around 24, 25 . And thats, of course, on the back of a lot of stimulus, on the back of the fact that consumers are getting a little bit more confident as companies are opening up and hiring more workers. But, again, just like the 25 or 28 yeah, 24 growth in gdp was boost by stimulus, in the Fourth Quarter if you get no stimulus, youre going to start to see real gdp sort of move towards the flattest line are. So you absolutely need that stimulus. Charles right. Now, do you need 3 or 4 trillion . Probably not. But you certainly need something, otherwise gdp is going to come in at a very meager rate. And remember, or we still have a lot of workers that need jobs, so stimulus is essential, and we need both democrats and republicans to join forces. Charles right. Otherwise the Fourth Quarter is going to give you a real gdp number that is close to the gnattish line, and thats flattish line, and thats good for anybody. Charles with one minute to go, i want to look ahead to 2021 and and say we get 1. 5, 1. 7 trillion in stimulus. Youve got 3 trillion in saving, the stock market at record highs, home prices at record highs, youve got the wealth effect. Could that actually trigger a boom . Could we see a strong 2021 . I think that 2021 can be strong if you give it that jump, that stimulus. Of course, the vaccine which i think is coming to a theater near us very soon there is no question. We can debate whether the vaccine comes before the election or after, its coming. Charles sure, sure. And as long as it comes before the First Quarter of next year, to 21 should not be a bad year for the economy. We know that, in fact charles all right. Forward earnings for the s p have been rising, so even though i cant tell you that stocks are cheap today, actually start to see the consensus of forward earnings in the s p 500 rising charles right. And the Federal Reserve keeping Interest Rates at low levels, were going to see the equity market be a better place in 2021. Charles yeah. I think the equity market and main street could have a great 2021. My thanks to you, anthony chan. Dont go anywhere, marias one own oneonone with the ceo of blue apron, linda kozlowski, is up next. [ engines revving ] its amazing to see them in the wild like th shhh. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. Charles welcome back. Staying at home during the pandemic has forced a change of habit for many. Among them, more people cooking at home as their restaurant options are limited. Blue apron, theyre poised to take advantage. The Company Sends customers meal kits to prepare their own gourmet dishes. They recently saw their first profit since going public three years ago. Maria spoke with ceo linda kozlowski. Honestly, not only are people cooking at home more, but theyre saying they plan to continue to cook more at home for the foreseeable future. Everything were seeing internally and externally says not only are people getting more confident in the kitchen, but theyre really enjoying the time that they have with their family, and theyre valuing that connection time with meal time. Its impacting families. Spouses are also getting in on creating these dinner moments together. And so we see a much longer term impact from cooking together as we move forward. Maria so what are people doing . They want to make sure that theyve got the fresh ingredients, they can cook at home, and youve actually seen that directly on the bottom line. Your first profit since going public. What gives you the sense that this continues after were out of this . So really what we saw in the Second Quarter was we is saw about a 29 growth quarter other quarter and 10 growth yearoveryear, and we anticipate the yearoveryear growth will continue Going Forward based on the trends that were seeing. So when we talk to our customers and also looking at third party research, it looks like, you know, at least a minimum of a third of people are thinking that theyre going to continue to cook at home more not just than before the pandemic, than even during the pandemic. Because of the fact that theyre looking for ways to connect, theyre looking for a healthier lifestyle, theyre looking for fresh options, so they dont get into dinner time ruts. And so all of this feedback is coming back from our customers as they engage more whether theyre new customers coming in for the first time or whether theyre existing customers that are just engaging more with the service. You know, the general feeling is were going to be at home for a while, but also we really like being able to make that at home time special and not feel like, you know, like youre sort of in a rut that actually has variety and has something different. So what we saw this past quarter is that not only did we significantly increase our revenue volume, but that volume also we were able to bring it very efficiently considering the additional costs around managing the labor force during the coronavirus pandemic. And so we were able to see really strong margins and positive cash flow as well. Which is great, because it gives us so much more flexibility Going Forward. Maria yeah. And you did this while also making the decision to pull back on marketing and spending on marketing while you did allocate more money to labor and to workers. Tell me about that, the fact that you pulled back marketing, but youve also while pulling back marketing have come up with a new Marketing Partnership with, inspire by a new york chef and television personality. Tell us about your marketing efforts. Finish. Sureful so, you know, in the early stages we did pull back on marketing, as did a lot of people because, frankly, there was such strong organic demand for the product that we wanted to redirect those dollars to where it could be most useful in increasing capacity and bringing more people into, you know, into the ability to get boxes. So it was just getting more food to more people, was our top priority. At the same time, we, of course, want to keep people engaged, and we want to make sure that were retaining a lot of the new customers that are coming in, a lot of the activity. So as we restarted our marketing, with we restarted our chef partnerships as well including most recently amanda freitag, because its really about creating something exciting, Something Interesting and fun for meal time at home. And these chef partnerships really drive up engagement with our existing users and gives them a lot more variety and things to sort of have fun with when it comes to meal time. Maria and youve had new offerings, premium offerings in terms of menus. What do the menus look like today . Give our audience a sense of your offering. So, you know, what blue apron has always been known for is having just a really, really interesting, diverse set of ingredients and sort of Culinary Authority around recipes with a lot of flavor and unexpected flavors. Thats one of the things people say, the fact that they can discover something new every time that they cook. And so weve always introduced new ingredients to our customers and new techniques, but with the premium offering were going through even more unique proteins, multiple proteins in a meal, more food and really that restaurant quality experience. You can kind of have a special occasion night at home and experiment with new flavor. And so weve introduced a lot of new combinations with steak and shrimp and adding prosciutto and some other really interesting proteins, and were starting to introduce, like duck is coming next month, in september, and well continue to introduce new proteins. This has actually been really, really exciting because people can take our core menu which already has, you know, 12 choices plus the premium for 2 people and 7 choices for 4 people, and then enhance that experience, and you have those dishes for weeknight that help you prep quickly. And then also something for the weekend. Its a little bit more exciting that helps you kind of balance out so we can create that variety that people crave. Charles thanks to linda kozlowski. Stay right there, maria talks Online Learning with khan Academy Owner saul khan. Up next. Hey, can i. Hold on one second. Sure. Okay. Okay safe drivers save 40 guys guys check it out. Safe drivers save 40 safe drivers save 40 safe drivers save 40 thats safe drivers save 40 . It is, thats safe drivers save 40 . Hes right there. Its him hes here. Hes right here. Hi hi. Hey thats totally him. Its him thats totally the guy. Safe drivers do save 40 . Click or call for a quote today. i need it so bad dont call it a hobby. Its way more than just a job. This is how we live every single day. Can we go and play . roaring of engines i needed to try needed to fall i needed your love im burning away i need never get old im burning away the big events are back. Xfinity is your home for the return of live sports. Charles welcome back. Finish back to School Season underway, and while some kids are back in class, Many School Districts are transitioning to a hybrid learning model, a combination of online and classroom methods to start off the year. Recently, maria spoke to Khan Academy Founder saul khan to get his assessment on the back to school situation. Watch. I think its a really tough situation. Most School Districts have spent most of the last three or four months figuring out whether they could open physically or how they could open physical lu, and they havent been able to spend too much time figuring out what does the actual instruction look like. And were now in the reality, as you just described, where a lot of schools have have had to go at least to some form of hybrid learning or most have gone to Distance Learning without a lot of supports for teachers and families on what that looks like. Its really hit or miss. A lot of schools are doing a reasonable job, but theres a lot of places where the issue is this isnt going to be a one or two month crisis, this is going to likely be much of this coming school year where itll either be fully distanced or off and on between inperson and Distance Learning, so if we dont figure out a way to reach all kids, this could turn into a catastrophe. Maria so lets talk about that. How do you reach all kids . I mean, you founded khan academy on the notion of virtual learning, Online Learning. So whats the best measures that we can look at to insure that we are reaching kids, and how do you do it with best practices . So the tools are already out there, as you described. Khan academy, its a not for profit, mission Free Education for anyone anywhere. It has the practice, the feedback, especially in math and science, and were going into other topics. Its really all about engagement at this point. What were telling teachers and families is you can get as much practice, feedback, learning at your own time and place on a platform like khan academy, and then as many touchpoints as you can have with teachers on video conference, the more valuable. A lot of folks dont realize theres an irony. Were doing Distance Learning, but for a lot of kids, their whole life is Distance Learning right now. Thats going to be their a main connection to some form of a community. So teachers are to index on having as many touch points as possible. We have to think more flexibly instead of having one hour on zoom together with 30 kids, maybe 10 minutes at a time with 10 kids so you can get more small group type instruction. And then on top of that, we just have to provide more supports, more clear direction. I have another nonprofit project thats connecting students with tutors, volunteer tutors. And, actually, we have a surplus of tutors, so were actually looking for students who need free, high quality tutoring. Maria i love this. And in an oped you wrote in the New York Times recently, you talked about something missing from the Distance Learning, the virtual learning, and that is the kids cannot have that very vital social engagement with other students that, you know, as we call the University Life in college. Thats not happening now. So is there a way to try to get that another way . Is that