Some on Wall Street think U.S. jobs number is ‘implausible’ and will be corrected downward

Some on Wall Street think U.S. jobs number is ‘implausible’ and will be corrected downward

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S&P 500 futures were up 0.32% this morning after the index closed flat yesterday at 6,941. Investors seem to be buoyed by the strong job-market numbers published yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. With unemployment falling from 4.4% to 4.3%, many Wall Street analysts are saying that this means the U.S. Federal Reserve is now less likely to cut interest rates further. If the economy is doing just fine, there’s no need to risk inflation by delivering still more cheaper money, the theory goes.Some of them think the labor market is now so tight that the Fed may even raise rates (a scenario likely to provoke rage from President Donald Trump). But, as always, the devil is in the details. A couple of analysts are worried that the latest number might be wrong, and that the level of job creation in the U.S. is lower than the stats suggest.First, the number of jobs added in January—130,000—was roughly double analysts’...
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March jobs report: US economy adds 178,000 jobs, unemployment rate falls to 4.3% in surprise turnaround

March jobs report: US economy adds 178,000 jobs, unemployment rate falls to 4.3% in surprise turnaround

by AdminNo Comments
The US economy added 178,000 jobs in March, soaring past expectations, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.3%. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected a gain of 65,000 jobs, reversing February's drop. That month's loss grew even bigger with revisions: from 92,000 to a new figure in Friday's report of 133,000. Economists had projected no change in the unemployment rate from February's 4.4%. Friday's data offers a picture of the job market just as the US-Israel war on Iran began to weigh on an economy already slogging through a weak hiring rate. Read more about the state of the US jobs market. While overall job growth...
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February 2026 jobs report:

February 2026 jobs report:

by AdminNo Comments
The U.S. economy lost jobs in February, a month marred by severe winter weather and a strike at a major health-care provider, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.Nonfarm payrolls fell by 92,000 for the month, compared with the estimate for 50,000 and below the downwardly revised January total of 126,000. February marked the third time in the past five months that payrolls declined, following a sharp revision showing a drop of 17,000 in December.At the same time, the unemployment rate edged higher to 4.4% as jobs declined across key areas. A broader measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time positions for economic reasons moved lower, to 7.9% or 0.2 percentage point below the January level.Health care, the primary growth driver in payrolls for at least the past year, saw a loss of 28,000, due largely to a strike at Kaiser Permanente that sidelined more than 30,000 workers in Hawaii and California. Though the strike has...
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June 2026 jobs report: US economy added jobs at a steady pace

June 2026 jobs report: US economy added jobs at a steady pace

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Global advisor to CEOs and corporate boards Ram Charan joins ‘Mornings with Maria’ to discuss AIs impact on jobs and productivity and the biggest threats facing CEOs as supply chain and geopolitical risks grow. The U.S. economy added jobs at a steady pace in June despite headwinds caused by elevated inflation and uncertainty over the Iran war's economic impact. What are the key findings of the June 2026 jobs report?The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday reported that employers added 57,000 jobs in June. That figure was below the estimate of economists polled by LSEG, who estimated 110,000 jobs added. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.2%, which was also below the estimate of 4.3%. The U.S. economy added jobs at a slower pace than expected in June. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Revisions were made to the payroll numbers for the prior two months, with April revised down by 31,000 from a gain of 179,000 to 148,000; while...
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AI Will Reshape More Jobs Than It Replaces

AI Will Reshape More Jobs Than It Replaces

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Over the next two to three years, 50% to 55% of jobs in the US will be reshaped by AI. For many employees, this will mean that they retain the same or a similar role but face radically new expectations for how they work and what they produce. For company leaders, it will require a clear vision for how the transformation is managed, including a scaled, strategic approach to upskilling and reskilling and the restructuring of career ladders.This shift is already happening—and will pick up speed as AI adoption spreads. Our analysis, based on microeconomic modeling, identified a significant swath of the labor force for which AI will meaningfully augment current roles. Moreover, when the productivity gains from AI use trigger increased end product demand and the potential for augmentation is high, we believe there will be a need for more and, in some cases, new human roles. (See Exhibit 1.) While job augmentation and new-job creation will happen rapidly,...
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US economy adds 57,000 jobs in June, below expectations

US economy adds 57,000 jobs in June, below expectations

by AdminNo Comments
00:00 Speaker A Once again, this is breaking news for the June Jobs report. The numbers just crossing the wire. 57,000 jobs were added to the US economy in the month of June. That's far less than the 113,000 that economists had forecasted based upon Bloomberg estimates. 00:15 Speaker A Also, we have average hourly earnings for the month of June coming in line with estimates at 3.5% and unemployment actually coming in a tick lower than what economists had forecasted at 4.2%. Economists had expected it at 4.3%. 00:27 Speaker A And so ultimately what we're seeing here is less jobs added to the US economy during the month of June than expected. Also taking a look at the month of May, previously the government had reported that 172,000...
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Americans keep leaving the workforce. Experts can’t agree on the cause

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Updated July 9, 2026, 3:08 p.m. ETWhether it was caregiving responsibilities, feeling discouraged after a long stretch of unemployment or the realization they’re sitting on a pile of money, many Americans have left the workforce entirely.Over the past year, about 1 million workers have thrown in the towel. In June alone, 720,000 people left the workforce, the Labor Department estimated. The labor force participation rate, or the percentage of those 16 and older who are working or looking for work, fell to 61.5% in June, marking the lowest reading since March 2021. Excluding the lows seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, it represents the lowest rate in five decades.Experts are split on what is driving the departures.Some older employees who have benefited from a booming stock market may be retiring feeling comfortable with their 401(k)s, though that doesn’t explain why the participation rate for people ages 25 to 55 has fallen. A Catalyst survey earlier this year found that some women left the workforce when companies imposed return-to-office mandates and they needed to care for kids at home, but that doesn’t explain why the participation rate for men has also dropped.What is clear is that a sustained decline in the workforce could slow U.S. economic growth.USA TODAY...
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US jobs market surpassed expectations in March but February losses were worse than first reported | US unemployment and employment statistics

US jobs market surpassed expectations in March but February losses were worse than first reported | US unemployment and employment statistics

by AdminNo Comments
The US labor market picked up in March as employers showed signs of resilience amid the US-Israel war in Iran.After an extraordinary contraction in February, employers added 178,000 jobs last month, ahead of economists’ expectations of about 70,000.chart showing monthly change in US jobsThe unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. In February, the economy lost 133,000 jobs, according to revised figures. Job figures for January were revised up, from 126,000 to 160,000. With revisions, total employment in January and February is 7,000 lower than previously reported. .Previous data painted a mixed picture of the US labor market, which economists say has been in a static “low-fire, low-hire” state, where both layoffs and new hires are down.Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that employers announced 217,362 job cuts in the first quarter of 2026 – the lowest total for that period since 2022. But hiring in February slowed to a six-year...
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