Americans' optimism about job market hit record high in 2017 Megan Brenan in Gallup News Americans' optimism about the U.S. job market hit its highest annual average in 17 years, according to new polling from Gallup News. "Americans' optimism about finding a quality job averaged 56% in 2017 . . . a sharp increase from 42% in 2016," Megan Brenan writes. "Coinciding with rising optimism, the U.S. unemployment rate fell from an average 4.9% in 2016 to 4.4% in 2017, the lowest rate since 2000." Click here to read more. ------------ Bruce Abramson and Jeff Ballabon tick off the benefits of President Donald J. Trump's first year in office in an op-ed for The Washington Times. "The sclerotic Obama economy had been so lackluster for so long that many economists (and all progressives) had already accepted it as the new normal," they write. "Growth is back." ------------ U.S. Secretary Of Agriculture Sonny Perdue writes in CNN that "rural broadband is our duty to farmers." Highlighting the work of the President's Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity, Perdue writes, "To increase access to broadband in rural areas, we must incentivize private capital investment, including the use of public-private partnerships." ------------ In a piece for Washington Examiner, Justin Haskins details how "working-class families are winning big under Trump." Haskins offers a deep dive of the most recent numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which show that the average monthly unemployment rate for Americans without a high school diploma is "the lowest it's been since 2000." ------------ Boris Epshteyn, chief political analyst at WJLA, breaks down the economic numbers from President Trump's first year in office. "Here is the bottom line: the American economy has gained considerable strength in the first year of the Trump administration," Epshteyn writes. "These numbers show that a positive impact is being felt across demographics." ------------ Fox 5 DC reports that more than 296,000 residents of the District of Columbia will receive reduced electricity rates because of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: "Pepco says if its plans are approved, the company plans to begin issuing credit-lowering customer bills beginning within the first quarter of 2018."