The U.S. labor market might appear healthy, with a jobless rate near historic lows. However, once statistical overcounting is adjusted out of the data, “job creation is pretty close to zero,” U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said in a 15 November press briefing.
Retailers will hire 265,000 to 365,000 seasonal workers this holiday season, the fewest since at least 2010, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). Last year, stores took on 422,000 temps as holiday help.
Americans’ outlook on the nation’s economy is within reach of a record low set during the COVID War, the University of Michigan’s twice-monthly survey of consumer sentiment discovered.
Last week, Canada’s central bank cut its key rate for the fourth time this year, dropping it to 2.25 percent and announcing that it will defer any future rate cuts indefinitely.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to hold its policy interest rate at 2 percent where it has rested since June. The bank has taken two percentage points off the rate since June 2024.
Major employers including Amazon and Nestlé have announced plans to shed workers as consumers tighten spending, tariffs crimp global trade, and artificial intelligence (AI) replaces workers up and down the corporate ladder.
By a vote of 10 to 2, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee cut its policy interest rate by a quarter point on 29 October, dropping it to 4 percent, its lowest level in three years.
The lingering trade war and government shutdown dragged consumers’ outlook lower last month, The Conference Board’s most recent poll found.
The number of “zombie” companies—those whose operating income is too small to cover interest payments on their debts—has reached its highest since early 2022.
Aside from a post-COVID spurt, real income for U.S. workers in their prime earning years ages 25 to 54 is growing at its slowest pace since the economy began to recover from the Great Recession more than a decade ago, the JPMorgan Chase Institute reported.