Employment

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

Flocking Doves Tomorrow?

Sep 4, 2025 3 min read paid

Stock prices rose again today as the 10-year bond yield fell. Investors anticipate that tomorrow's employment report for August will be weak. If so, then it is a sure bet that the FOMC's majority will turn dovish and will vote to cut the federal funds rate on September 17. Indeed, the odds are up to 99.4%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. Stock investors must

Ed Yardeni

ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: September 2 - 5

Sep 1, 2025 3 min read

This week is chock-a-block with data reports, all building up to Friday's pivotal employment report. The August jobs release will offer a reality check of sorts following July's surprisingly soft reading and significant downward revisions to results for May and June. It could determine whether the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) proceeds with a rate cut at its September 16-17 policy meeting. The July jobs data

Ed Yardeni
William Pesek

Economy Is Growing, While Job Indicators Remain Solid

Aug 26, 2025 2 min read

The monthly Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) survey includes the most timely monthly indicators of the labor market. August's survey was released today (chart). The jobs-plentiful series remained relatively high at 29.7%. The jobs-available series fell to 50.3%, which is above its average over time of 48.2%. That drop was matched by an uptick in the jobs-hard-to-get series to 20.0%. In our opinion, these stats

Ed Yardeni

ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: August 4-8

Aug 3, 2025 3 min read

Compared to last week’s dramatic data surprises, this week’s offerings are decidedly of the slim-pickings variety. But boring, the days ahead will not be. While we’re still of the thinking that President Donald Trump won’t fire Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair’s fate could be written between the lines of any data series that undershoots expectations. Following Friday’s weaker-than-expected July employment report, Trump wasted

Ed Yardeni

Let The Games Begin!

Jul 29, 2025 3 min read paid

Tomorrow will be action-packed. Wednesday morning, the US Treasury will issue its Quarterly Refunding Statement detailing how it intends to finance $1.0 trillion in marketable securities during Q3. The question is whether Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will rely more on doing so in the Treasury bill market, as recently suggested by President Donald Trump. Tomorrow afternoon, the FOMC will issue a press release at 2:00 p.m., most

Ed Yardeni

ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: July 28 - August 1

Jul 27, 2025 3 min read

This is a big week on the monetary policy front, with the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan, and Bank of Canada all holding policy meetings. Naturally, the main event will be the Federal Open Market Committee’s widely expected decision (Wed) to leave the federal funds rate unchanged. We are among those expecting no change. However, we do expect that Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference (Wed) will

Ed Yardeni
William Pesek

Bond Yield Rises, Ignoring Weak ADP Payrolls Report

Jul 2, 2025 3 min read

The 10-year Treasury bond yield rose yesterday and today on mostly upbeat employment indicators. Yesterday, the JOLTS report came in stronger than expected. In addition, initial unemployment claims edged down, according to yesterday's report. Today, the Challenger report showed a drop in layoffs. The bond market chose to tune out the uptick in continuing unemployment claims in yesterday's report, and it also ignored today's

Ed Yardeni

ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: June 30-July 4

Jun 29, 2025 3 min read

It may be July 4th week in the US, but we don't expect many fireworks on the economic data front. Of course, surprises could come from events in the Middle East, as Israel, Iran, and the Trump administration figure out whether the ceasefire will hold or missiles will start flying again. Surprises could also come from Trump's trade negotiations. A bunch of deals are expected in

William Pesek
Ed Yardeni

ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: June 23 - 27

Jun 23, 2025 3 min read paid

Layered on top of a still-developing trade war, President Donald Trump's attack on Iran puts markets in decidedly uncharted territory. Much will depend on how Iran responds to the attack. Trump said in Saturday's White House address, if Iran doesn’t "make peace" then "future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier." In addition, Trump's "Big Beautiful

Ed Yardeni
William Pesek

He Said, Xi Said

Jun 5, 2025 3 min read

President Donald Trump said today that he had a "very good talk" with China's President Xi Jinping for an hour and a half mostly about trade. They also agreed to visit one another. The financial markets yawned. Stock, bond, currency, and commodity traders have become jaded about Trump's tumultuous trade dealmaking. Even rising concerns about a shortage of Chinese rare earth minerals (needed by

Ed Yardeni

Mixed Bag

Jun 4, 2025 3 min read paid

The 10-year US Treasury bond yield fell to 4.36% today on a batch of weaker-than-expected economic indicators. Bond investors weren't fazed by Elon Musk's attack on President Trump's "big beautiful bill" on Tuesday afternoon. Musk thinks it’s ugly: "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination." Nor were they fazed by the fact that the

Ed Yardeni

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