Employment

Cornucopia of Data

Nov 27, 2025 4 min read

We are thankful for your interest in our research. Happy Thanksgiving! Now that the government shutdown is over, there is plenty of data again with which to assess the economy's performance. On balance, GDP growth remains robust despite lackluster labor market indicators. Consumers are consuming. Inflation is subdued just below 3.0%. The federal deficit remains enormous. Federal tax receipts confirm the economy is growing. Nevertheless, the Fed,

Ed Yardeni

To Bail Or Not To Bail?

Nov 20, 2025 4 min read

Good news bears were on the loose today. It was a risk-off day in financial markets despite strong earnings and economic news. Nvidia reported better-than-expected Q3 results yesterday after the market closed. This morning, we learned that payroll employment rose more than expected in September and that initial unemployment claims remained subdued last week. Nevertheless, it was a bad day for stock investors. The stock market pullback that we expected

Ed Yardeni

ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: November 17-21

Nov 16, 2025 2 min read

The week ahead is a pivotal one for market participants seeking some clarity on US growth and the likelihood of another Fed rate cut. Now that the longest-ever government shutdown is over, investors will finally get a look at the September employment report. While stale at this point, the report should provide some insight into labor market conditions. A flurry of public speaking events by Fed officials will reveal whether

William Pesek
Ed Yardeni

Challenging The Challenger Report

Nov 6, 2025 3 min read

Bond prices rallied and stock prices fell this morning on news that layoffs rose sharply, according to the Challenger Report, which was titled "JOB CUTS SURPASS 1 MILLION; HIGHEST OCTOBER TOTAL SINCE 2003. COMPANIES CITE COST-CUTTING, AI IN OCTOBER." That headline is somewhat sensational. It refers to the past 12 months through October. The actual number of layoffs during the month was 153,074, as the report notes

Ed Yardeni

ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: November 3-7

Nov 2, 2025 2 min read

A big week of economic releases is coming up, but the government won’t be reporting them because it is closed for business. Nevertheless, the week ahead will still be a big one for private-sector economic data. On balance, they are likely to show that the economy is expanding, consumers are spending, and employment is still growing, albeit at a slow pace. Consider the following: (1) Retail sales. The weekly

Ed Yardeni

DEEP DIVE: Slim Pickin's Among Economic Indicators

Oct 15, 2025 4 min read paid

The following is an excerpt from our October 14 Morning Briefing for institutional investors. We are sharing it with our QuickTakes members today. It isn’t easy being an economist when the government shutdown shuts off the flow of economic data. Nevertheless, the Fed is still open for business and issuing economic releases. So are several private-sector sources of economic indicators. On balance, the data we do have suggest that

Ed Yardeni

Russell 2000 Is For Losers, But Is Currently Winning

Oct 2, 2025 3 min read paid

The Russell 2000 small-cap stock price index is outperforming the S&P 600, another small-cap index (chart). The former includes many more companies that are losing money than the latter. This is yet another sign of mounting speculative froth in financial markets in response to the Fed's 25bps cut in the federal funds rate on September 17. The S&P 600's requirement that companies

Ed Yardeni

Another Bad JOLTS For Job Market

Oct 1, 2025 3 min read paid

The S&P 500 SPDR ETF (SPY) closed today at 666 (chart). I have fond memories of that number. I wrote on March 16, 2009: "We’ve been to Hades and back. The S&P 500 bottomed last week on March 6 at an intraday low of 666. This is a number commonly associated with the Devil. . . . The latest relief rally was sparked by lots of good

Ed Yardeni

ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: September 29 - October 3

Sep 28, 2025 3 min read

Monthly employment reports have been suspenseful enough in recent months, but the real drama surrounding September's hotly anticipated figures is whether they will even be released on Friday. They won't be if the government shuts down on October 1 amid partisan bickering. Assuming the data come out, we expect them to show that the economy remains more buoyant than the conventional wisdom acknowledges given how surprised

Ed Yardeni
William Pesek

Message To The Fed: Repent, Oh Ye Of Little Faith

Sep 26, 2025 2 min read

The Fed just won't listen to us. Last year, we warned Fed officials not to cut the federal funds rate (FFR) because we had more confidence in the economy than they did. We also observed that inflation remained above their 2.0% inflation target. We predicted that the 10-year Treasury bond yield and mortgage rates would likely rise rather than fall if the Fed lowered the FFR. They

Ed Yardeni

Postpartum Impressions

Sep 18, 2025 3 min read

Please see Dr Ed's op-ed in today's Financial Times titled "Why it might be the time to repeal the Fed’s dual mandate: Should 3% be the US central bank's new inflation target?" As expected by everyone, the FOMC delivered a 25bps cut in the federal funds rate (FFR) yesterday. There was only one dissenter among the FOMC's voting members.

Ed Yardeni

US Labor Market Is In Balance

Sep 5, 2025 3 min read

August's employment report was released this morning. It was weaker than expected. The month's payrolls rose by just 22,000. June's number was revised down by 27,000 to a decline of 13,000, while July's number was revised up by 6,000 to 79,000. August's big losers were goods producers (-25,000), professional & business services (-17,000,

Ed Yardeni

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